Hemorrhage
by Mistress Frrreak
Summary: On a job Eliot and Parker notice someone has done some of their dirty work for them. What happens when said person bests Eliot in a fight? What happens when she reappears at their next con? Will Nate bring her into the team or will Eliot have to "take care of" the only person who's ever gotten him before?
1. Chapter 1

Eliot Spencer was a bad man. At least he thought he was a bad man for all the things he'd done. Especially the things he'd done for Damien Moreau. He was sitting in the briefing listening to Hardison going on and on about something on their next mark. Nate interjected his own thoughts about the man they were about to go after. This was a fairly easy job. At least to Eliot. They should be in and out within just a few days. He was itching for some time off.

Two nights later, he was waiting for his cue from Hardison. Parker was already on her way to break into the mark's office. Time was of the essence as they had to beat security cameras and guards. Hardison finally gave the Hitter his cue so he snuck around the corner where the guards were supposed to be at.

He stopped in his tracks. There were four guardsmen, all unconscious, on the floor in a pile.

"Nate, something's wrong here." He spoke to his invisible ear bud

"What's wrong?" Nate inquired

"The guards are all incapacitated already." He replied

"What happened?" Nate asked, furrowing his brow

"I don't know. I haven't seen anyone. Something's up." Eliot stated as rifled through the unconscious men's pockets, "Nothing is out of place. They all have legit security badges that match their ID's. Doing the phone thing now, Hardison."

Eliot cloned their phones for Hardison to go through. Four guys unconscious on the floor raised red flags for the Hitter. He was even more aware of things as he cautiously walked over the bodies. Parker had found the correct office, cracked the safe, and gotten what they needed by the time he arrived. Or so he thought. She looked at him with a confused expression.

"What's wrong, Parker?" Eliot questioned as he entered the office

"The safe was already open but it doesn't appear anything was taken. I don't understand." Parker stated

"Just stay on task, guys." Nate coolly stated

The team completed their tasks without a hitch. Even their escape was easier than they had anticipated. Eliot was on high alert. There was something definitely going on here. He was worried that someone was setting them up. They met up at the specified location before heading off to the Microbrewery. Nate was trying to figure out what was going on. Someone was making their job easier. Why?

"Nate, something's up." Eliot stated as soon as he'd entered the room

"The safe was already open. Nothing had been taken. But the safe was open." Parker stated

"I didn't catch anyone on the security cams while we were there." Hardison added in

"So someone is making our job easier? Why?" Sophie questioned

Nate shook his head, "I don't know."

"I'll go back through the security footage to see if I missed anything." Hardison said as he sat down with his laptop

"Something doesn't smell right, here, man." Eliot exclaimed

Nate couldn't agree more. Until they figured out who had been there last night, he thought they should just go on as usual. Parker and Eliot headed to their respective homes while Hardison continued tapping away at his keyboard. Nate went to pour himself a shot of his favorite whiskey. It was one thing to be sabotaged. They had taken down so pretty powerful people. What confused the Mastermind so much was that whoever was doing this seemed to actually be making it easier for them. The questioned that burned in his mind was why.


	2. Chapter 2

Hardison had dug through the footage to see what he had missed. Clearly he had missed something. It irritated him to not only miss whatever it was but to have to admit that to his team. He was going over the footage for the fifth time when he finally noticed it. To his relief it was so subtle that wasn't glaringly obvious. It was a shadow. A shadow that was doing great at staying out of the view of the cameras. No wonder he had missed it!

The question still remained, however, at what this person was doing there. Nothing had been taken, that they knew of, so what was the point of breaking in? The Hacker couldn't get any visible footage of the person which wasn't particularly helpful. He stayed up late into the night with the programs he'd created to try and help him at least get a basic description of the person but to no avail. When Nate woke the next morning he found Hardison slumped over his laptop sound asleep.

Parker crunching on her morning cereal didn't even rouse the hacker. Eliot arrived in his trademark nonchalant style and poured himself a cup of coffee. He balled his fist and slammed it down on the table next to Hardison. The young hacker nearly jumped out of his skin in surprise bringing a small, satisfied smile to the Hitter's face. Sophie made her way downstairs fully dressed and ready for the day.

"Any luck, Hardison?" Nate questioned as Sophie found her seat at their conference table

"Yes and no." Hardison replied

"What the hell does that mean?" Eliot exclaimed, already irritable

"Well, I finally found a shadow on the footage. Whoever this is, is smart enough to stay out of the views of the cameras. He pulls the guards off camera and stays in the shadows. I still have no idea who it is." Hardison replied, rubbing the sleep from his eyes

Nate frowned slightly. There was nothing they could do if they couldn't catch the person on camera. To the Mastermind's relief, a few days later the rest of their con had been executed perfectly. Their mark had been removed from the company, his assets had been seized, he was going to jail, and the client had gotten what they wanted. Nate and Sophie were giving the debriefing to their client while the kids sat at a table having a celebratory drink.

A few weeks later the team were on their next job. Their recon had gone smoothly, the Mark was doing what they expected him to do, and they were in his office building getting the documents they needed. They left a few documents of their own in the process. Hardison was sitting in Lucille watching the security footage carefully. The security was quite tight in this particular building and he wanted to make sure his team was safe. Nate was sitting next to him instructing his team.

Sophie was inside the building chatting up the front desk security guards. The grifter was quite good at playing her parts and now was no exception. She had the full and undivided attention of the two men who rarely saw, or were flirted by, such a beautiful woman. Something on his screen made Hardison sit up straighter. He rewound the footage to look at it again.

"What's wrong, Hardison?" Nate questioned

"There's something with the security footage." The younger man replied

"What do you mean 'something with the footage'?" Eliot growled into his ear bud

The hacker did what he did best. Hacked.

"The footage, it's being looped to show all clear hallways so the guards won't see anything on their cameras." Hardison explained

"Cha0s is back?" Nate asked "I don't think so. It's a simple loop. Cha0s would do something over the top." Hardison replied

"Guys, the roaming guards are unconscious. Just like that last job." Eliot replied as he came upon two unconscious guards, "And their bound and gagged this time."

"Parker? Any news?" Nate asked

Before she could reply the guards Sophie were with called on their radios to check in on their comrades. The leverage team looked at one another not expecting that. Eliot was about to pick up one of the radios when they heard one of the radios come on and a male exclaim _'All clear here. We're fine'_. Something was off about it to Eliot. The voice wasn't right. Hardison began looking over the audio feed and came upon something very interesting.

"That was a recording guys. Our new friend is doing this. Somehow he got the statement on tape and played the tape next to one of their radios." Hardison explained

"What do we do now?" Parker questioned

"We stay on track guys. Eliot, continue your sweep. Parker, get to Shane's office. Sophie, keep those guards busy. Hardison, find out where this person is or is going to be." Nate answered back

The hacker found all the exits and tried to figure out how this person was going to leave the building. Then he began to wonder how he had gotten in in the first place! He was unsure of where this person was. They weren't showing up on the security tapes so he couldn't really track this person.

"I've got the papers." Parker said over the comms

"Good job. Have you seen our new friend?" Nate asked

"Nope. Not a trace of anyone but us." Parker responded

"I'm not seeing anything either. Except unconscious and bound bodies." Eliot added in

"Alright guys. Get out of there." Nate replied His team did as they were instructed and were out of the building within two minutes.

Eliot was the second to arrive at the van so he climbed into the driver's seat. Sophie was next and climbed into the passenger seat next to him. Parker was the last to arrive, by only about 30 seconds, and climbed into the back with Hardison and Nate. The hacker was still looking for traces of this new person but couldn't find anything. He was getting more than frustrated!


	3. Chapter 3

The five-some retreated to their proverbial bat cave. The job had gone well. It would be wrapped up the following day both with the Mark and their client. Nate was looking at the video feed Hardison had brought up. Just like the last job, their new friend stayed out of views of the cameras and stayed in the shadows.

"Nate?" Sophie questioned

"What do we know about this person?" He asked his team

"He is a hacker. May not be as good as me but he is a hacker." Hardison stated

"Wasn't there 6 bundles of money in that safe?" Parker questioned suspiciously as she looked at photos Hardison had brought up

"Yes. They were put in the safe that morning. No one had access to it but him and he didn't get into after putting it in." Sophie told her

"There were only 5 bundles there when I got into it." Parker told them

"So he's a thief too." Hardison stated

"Not really." Parker stated making everyone look at her funny, "If he was a thief, wouldn't he have taken **ALL** the money?"

"Hacker, hitter thief. He's nearly a one-man Leverage team!" Hardison laughed making Eliot glare at him

Nate grunted making Sophie smile at him.

"Well Hardison does make a point, Nate. He didn't steal from that last job so what changed?" Sophie questioned

"There wasn't any money to steal that last job." Parker pouted

"True but I don't think that's what's behind this guy." Nate replied

"He's one step ahead of us. Just barely too. I don't get it." Eliot stated, crossing his arms across his muscular chest

The group fell into silence as they tried to figure this new supporter out. Who was this guy? What did he want? Eliot was afraid it was trap to draw them out, so to speak. They had taken down so pretty high profile people. It wasn't a secret that they had gained a few pissed off and highly motivated enemies. He wanted everyone to be on high alert until they figured this out. Parker was just confused about who would take one bundle of money and not all of it. Didn't everyone want all the money they could get?!

Hardison was just frustrated that he couldn't find this person. He was a hacker. One of the best. He could find anyone if he wanted. Except this guy. This guy knew better than to get in view of any cameras and stayed in the shadows to stay hidden. He was smart enough to draw the guards into the shadows with him. This guy didn't seem to leave a trace to be found. Grunting and slamming his fists down made everyone look at him.

"Let's get some rest guys. I don't think he's a danger to us. We'll find him." Nate told everyone

Eliot growled slightly not liking this whole thing one bit. Sophie was trying to explain to Parker why someone would not take all the money. The young blond was just not understanding one bit and was getting a bit frustrated by it. Hardison's shoulders slumped forward feeling defeated. Nate again told everyone to go home and get some rest. Once everyone had left, Sophie led Nate to their shared bedroom.

They hadn't heard anything about their new little "friend". Hardison didn't have any more information than he had before and it was really starting to get under his skin. Eliot was even more paranoid than usual. Parker was still trying to comprehend why he hadn't taken all the money. Sophie wasn't worried. More concerned for whoever they were dealing with. It wasn't until their next job did things take an interesting turn.

This job was a bit trickier than their previous few jobs. They all needed to be focused since time was limited. Parker was rappelling down the stairwell to get to a specified floor faster and without being seen. Hardison and Nate were in Lucille watching the security cameras. Hardison was paying extra special attention to see if he could catch their friend in action. Eliot was making his sweeps. Everything seemed to be fine, nothing out of the ordinary. The Hitter made his way to the floor Parker was about to be on when something stopped him.

A burly man in his late 40's came flying around the corner. He was unconscious when he hit the floor. Instantly Eliot was on guard. Cautiously making his way around the corner, he whispered _'Security guys are being taken care of as we speak. I think our friend is here'_. He found a young man, early to mid 20's and fairly fit, grappling with someone he hadn't expected. A very beautiful redhead. She was short, perhaps 5'0 or 5'1, curvy in all the right places, gorgeous red hair that came to her shoulders, and stunning green eyes.

He watched as the pair fought. The girl had great technique. The spinning back-kick landed square in the guy's chest knocking the wind out of him. Less than a minute later he, too, was unconscious on the ground. Her eyes darted to his quickly. She thought this new guy, even without being in the security uniform, was a part of the security detail. Instantly she was on guard. Eliot could sense her apprehension so he switched to more defensive stance.

"I'm not going to hurt you. Who are you?" Eliot questioned softly

He watched as her eyes darted around wildly looking for anyone else who might be on in this ambush. She moved into an offensive stance ready to strike at the first sign of trouble. He held his hands up to show he wasn't being hostile. Eliot didn't want to hurt her, he didn't want to spook her either. Unfortunately for him, that's exactly what he did. Before he knew it, her balled fist made contact with his jaw. Much harder than he could have anticipated just by looking at her. He blocked her attacks not wanting to hurt such a petite woman.

"Eliot? Eliot, what's happening?" Nate questioned, hearing that his Hitter was in a fight

"Just business." Eliot retorted, confusing the young woman

Instinctively, he wound up fighting the girl. She held her own better than he would have guessed. She was small and agile, much like their Thief, and he underestimated how quickly she could move. She wrapped her arms and legs around him in such a way that it was damned near impossible for him to remove her. In a matter of minutes she had him in a choke hold and they were going down. She gently laid him down on the ground. Not knowing he had an ear bud in, she whispered a quick _"I'm sorry"_ to the now unconscious man.

Instantly she took off the way she had come leaving a very confused team behind. Parker found him and relayed that he was on the ground unconscious. Nate sat for a moment to devise a plan to get their hitter out of the building without causing suspicion. Parker got Hardison inside while Sophie did her thing with guards at the front desk. By the time they were on their way home, Eliot had started coming around. He was a bit groggy but unwilling to talk about what had happened at the building.

Nate needed to know everything that happened. Eliot settled one the couch and leaned back into it as he closed his eyes. He couldn't get her face out of his mind. If he wasn't trying to keep her from freaking out, he would have stood and appreciated her body a bit more. What got to him the most, however, were her eyes. He knew what lay behind them. She was a mystery but there was something so familiar about her and her behavior.

"What the hell happened?" Nate inquired

"Our new…..friend….. is not a he. It's a she. She took down three very big guards by herself." Eliot stated

"Wait, let me get this straight. The great Eliot Spencer got bested by a girl?" Hardison laughed


	4. Chapter 4

"Hardison!" Sophie exclaimed

Eliot merely growled at the young, still laughing hacker.

"Well it is kind of funny, Eliot." Parker added in making the Hitter growl menacingly once more

"What else happened?" Nate questioned, wanting to get as much info out of the Hitter as he could

"When I came around the corner, I told her I wasn't going to hurt her and that I just wanted to talk to her. She began looking around wildly like she was expecting an ambush or something. The girl was frightened." Eliot explained

"She leaned down in your ear and said 'I'm sorry'. I think she thought you were a part of the security team at first. She didn't want to hurt you." Sophie added in

"What was she afraid of? It still doesn't explain why she's been showing up at our jobs." Nate stated

Eliot sat there thinking over every last detail of his encounter with the mystery woman. Hardison was listening to the recordings from their ear buds. All he got was the two words she'd spoken to their unconscious hitter. He couldn't get a voice recognition from it, her voice wasn't loud enough for it unfortunately. Nate had the hacker turn up the volume on Eliot's ear bud to try and catch any other sound that they otherwise might have missed. Eliot heard the petite woman whisper in his ear '_I'm sorry_'.

Hardison wasn't picking up much else and it was starting to irritate him a bit. That girl was terrified. Eliot had seen that look before. She was paranoid. Why? She fought…. She never really hurt anyone, just knocked them out. She'd had some training of some sort.

"Someone's after her." Eliot suddenly exclaimed

"How do you know?" Parker questioned

"The look in her eyes, the way she thought she was about to be ambushed. The way she fought." Eliot simply replied, closing his eyes again

"Nate! If someone's after that girl, we have to do something!" Sophie exclaimed, clearly shocked at the idea

"Eliot spooked her. I don't think we can get close to her again." Nate replied, furrowing his brows

"We can't just leave her to the wolves, Nate! She needs our help." Sophie cut in

"If someone is after her that would explain why she's showing up at our jobs. Maybe she's trying to find a way for them to leave her alone." Hardison added

"No. I don't think so." Eliot stated

"How do you know?" Parker innocently questioned

"I just do, Parker!" Eliot bellowed

"We can't just leave that poor girl out to defend herself." Sophie countered

"The way she took out Eliot, I'm sure she can fend for herself, Sophie. We'll just have to wait and see if we can catch her again." Nate responded

No one knew better than the Hitter what it felt like to be so paranoid about being ambushed. The rest of his team just didn't understand how he knew this girl was being chased and that she was frightened. She could hold her own, he was sure of it, but he was intrigued. Who was she exactly? Who was she running from? Nate didn't think they were any closer to finding this woman. He was worried she might be working against them, even if she didn't know it, and might end up causing them some serious problems.

Sophie was worried for the girl's safety even though she didn't know anything about her. Who could she be running from? Eliot had told them when he confronted her she panicked and began looking around for others in an ambush. How bad could her life have been thus far to make her as paranoid as Eliot?! Their Hitter had done some awful things to people. She understood his paranoia even though she felt he shouldn't be paranoid any longer. What shocked her more than anything, however, was the fact that this woman beat Eliot in a fight.

The Mother Hen knew that fact messed with his mind. It wasn't often Eliot was beaten or had someone get the best of him in a fight. Even when he fought Quinn and Roper, he eventually came out on top and won the fight. But this woman. She got him. Sophie knew Eliot wouldn't just let the girl win either. This was a very perplexing situation they found themselves in!

That man. The man with the shoulder-length chestnut hair and piercing blue eyes. He fought well. Better than any of the security guards she'd taken down thus far. He wasn't wearing the security uniform which meant he was either private security or he was here on…. Other… business. What other business that could be unnerved her. After taking him down, she leaned into his ear hoping that at least his subconscious would hear her apology.

She retreated the way she had come in hopes that if the guy had any associates she would escape before meeting them. Her job had been completed so she headed straight to the place she'd been staying the past week. Locking the door to her haven, and with the curtains still drawn, she sat down and thought over the past few weeks. She still had a few jobs to do, the hardest and most physical one was yet to come, and then she hoped she could get out of the game. She wanted to buy herself an island and live in blissful solitude.

Evan Van Bree was an evil man. The things he'd done to her family and to her. The things she had done for him. The things she had to do in order to escape. She was certain he wasn't just going to let her go as easily as she escaped. She wasn't delusional enough to think she'd gotten away scot free. Suddenly feeling icky, she went to take herself a very hot shower. She needed to scrub the feeling off her. Most people looked at her and dismissed her.

Being short and petite didn't make people absolutely tremble in fear at her. For most people that would be enough to intimidate them into not doing the things she did. For her, however, she used everyone's underestimations to her advantage. Over the years she had developed skills that allowed her to do almost anything. One of the very few things she hadn't learned to do, as of yet anyhow, was control the night terrors she suffered from. Sometimes she went days without sleep because of them.

She had been taking jobs sabotaging companies who were cheating and doing wrong in general. It was just a job. She wasn't cut out for the normal 9-to-5 type of jobs. Abiding by the laws of normal citizens wasn't something she was really capable of either. She'd never liked rules as a child and after…. Evan…. She knew she'd never be able to abide them now. Making sure the windows and door was locked and traps set, she laid down in the small and slightly uncomfortable bed to try and get some rest.

When she closed her eyes, however, all she saw were those remarkable blue orbs staring back at her. He seemed just as shocked to see her as she had been to see him. Those eyes softened as he spoke to her and he seemed genuine in what he said. Then again Evan had seemed genuine sometimes as well and she couldn't forget how that turned out. His voice softened as he spoke. He had a sweet southern drawl that she knew could get her into some kind of trouble. What she couldn't past were those eyes.


	5. Chapter 5

She did the odd job to keep some cash rolling in. She stayed under the grid as much as possible. Hardison, however, was still trying to find this woman. This extremely elusive woman. It had been nearly two months since the incident where this woman brought Eliot to unconsciousness. They hadn't seen anything of her since that night. Hardison was starting to think Eliot had spooked her so bad that she just left the city completely.

Nate had Hardison running their latest job. Eliot thought it resembled The Tap-Out job quite a bit. Except this job was about male and female fighters and seemed to be much bigger and seedier than that one. Once more, Eliot was tasked with going "under cover" as a fighter. It wasn't much of a stretch since he really was a fighter. They had spent weeks preparing for this night. It was a huge fight competition and Eliot was entered as a new fighter. There was big money to be won as well as small endorsements from local business and such.

Sophie, remembering the last fighting job, wasn't too keen on having Eliot fighting like that again. Even Hardison was a bit weary of Eliot doing these fights. It wasn't just one. It wasn't just a short fight. He would be fighting multiple opponents, one at a time of course, over the course of a few days to determine who and when he would fight in the main competition. Each fight would be in 5-minute rounds. Sophie had tried to convince Nate and Eliot that there was a better way of doing this con but Eliot said it was the only way. Just like he had during "The Tap-Out Job".

She knew this job was going to hurt. Fighting always hurt. But fighting people who were close to the same caliber of fighter was something else. She knew what she had to do. It had been two months since her incident with the man with the stunning blue eyes. Whenever she started to feel over-whelmed or paranoid, she just closed her eyes and found those blue eyes. She prepared herself for the night after she tapped into the computer system and got what she was after.

Eliot was the only one who knew what the mysterious redhead looked like. He described her to Parker who drew up a sketch but it just didn't look like her, at least to him. Eliot knew he would know her if he saw her. He just wasn't expecting to see her here. So far the night had gone according to plan. Parker was breaking into the office to gather the papers and files that they needed. Looking around, the young blonde thief realized their little friend had already been here. She opted to stay quiet knowing Nate was giving Eliot a speech of some sort.

Sophie was sitting ring side, much like that other job, playing her part. Eliot wouldn't be fighting for another hour but mentally he wanted to prepare. He fought and took the hits for the team. That's what he did. They were sure the water wasn't drugged but Sophie switched out the water bottles just in case. She had learned from the last job. Eliot was the last fight in his weight class before they switched to the females of the same class.

It was finally time for Eliot's fight. Sophie and Parker began to get nervous. Eliot bounced up and down as he prepared for the fight. The mark's eyes were on him. Nate, or in actuality Nate's persona JD, had talked up Eliot's fighting skills. The Hitter had been the favorite in his weight class after the Mark, Eugene Simmons, had seen Eliot doing his fights for placement for tonight. Eliot wasn't worried about winning or losing these fights. He knew he could handle it and would probably win most of his fights.

Things were going as planned. Eliot was doing really well in his fights, even if he was getting beat to hell in the process. In between rounds while Nate was giving him water, Eliot turned around. The first round of female fighters were getting ready to take the ring. Eliot's eyes went wide when he saw her. She was looking around wildly like she was making sure someone was there. He drank her in wearing a pair of neon pink compression shorts and black racer back sports bra. Her hands and feet were taped up and she was ready to go.

"Nate! That's her." Eliot quietly told the Mastermind

"Where?" Nate quietly, and immediately replied

Eliot pointed her out so Nate could get a good look. Nate gave the description to the rest of the crew. Hardison began tracking the woman in the audience while Eliot got back to his fight. Sophie was having a hard time watching. She hated seeing Eliot get beat up but she also knew he could take the beating better than anyone else on the team. Eugene thought for a moment that the kid JD spoke so highly of was about to lose the biggest fight he'd ever been in. In a quick turn of events, Eliot had his opponent on his back and was pounding his face like his life depended on it.

"Nate, the girl's going to be next in the ring." Sophie stated as her lover helped Eliot out of the ring

Eliot headed to the backstage area to "clean up". He quickly changed into a pair of jeans, white wife beater, black button down which he buttoned from the bottom up to his belly button, and boots. He took off to the ringside so he could catch the beautiful redhead right after she left the ring. He sat down next to Sophie wanting to watch what she could in the ring. Parker and Hardison joined them right after but sat a few rows back and a few seats down so they wouldn't be spotted together.

As the group were watching the fight in the ring, Nate was wheeling and dealing in the office upstairs. They had to get this contract signed so they could nail him for all the fraud. Hardison had given Eliot quite a hard time about him getting his ass kicked by a girl. Seeing what that tiny girl could do in the ring, however, made Hardison change his tune! Eliot watched with intense fascination as the unknown redhead fought like, how did that guy put it to him?, "like something's trying to get out of her".

The redhead wasn't paying attention to the patrons who had come to see the fights. All that mattered was her and her opponent. It's hard to dodge hits and punches but she did the best she could. She took kicks and punches like a champ. She hit with force to the right spots, knew when to execute leg sweeps. Her opponent elbowed her in the face knocking her back into the ropes. She growled before rushing at her opponent. The two women hit the mat and the redhead was quick to get her hooks into the women below her. The Leverage team watched with intense fascination at what was happening.

The two women had been pulled apart and were circling one another like wolves. Eliot could see the fire and determination in the redhead's eyes. She was like a predator circling her prey. Her opponent got a good punch into which landed straight on her nose. The redhead kneed the girl in her stomach at the same time as she began throwing punches to her head. The attack made the girl raise her hands up to protect her face. Eliot watched as she unleashed hell upon her opponent.

"Damn that girl is great." Hardison stated

"The redhead is the one who kicked Eliot's butt?" Parker asked

"Parker!" Sophie exclaimed exasperatedly

The redhead's nose was bleeding. Her lip had split and was bleeding. It just added fuel to her fire. She ran straight for her opponent knocking them both to the ground once again. The blond she was fighting wormed them around so the redhead was the one on her back. She was taking quite the beating but was doing great at taking it. She had a cut above her left eyebrow that was bleeding down her face. She squirmed around so she could wrap her legs around the blonde's neck. The redhead held her ground until the referee pulled them apart.

She was forced to let the girl go. The stood up and headed to their respective corners. The team watched as the redhead squirted water into her mouth so she could swish out any blood that was there. Once her mouth was cleaned, she finally took a drink of the cool liquid to cool down. The Leverage crew watched as the girl bounced up and down on the balls of her feet. They were allowed to begin fighting again and the redhead didn't waste any time.

They began wrestling around and it didn't take her long to get the upper hand. The blonde kicked her in the knee making her let go. The group watched as the girl took a hard punch to her stomach. Her stomach which, now that he was closer to her, Eliot could see had a six-pack. She was very toned and had great muscle definition. She didn't look like a body builder or anything but she looked incredible. He wondered what her story was.

The large group watched as the young woman tried some kick boxing moves knocking the wind out of her opponent. While the blond was doubled over, she took the opportunity to knock the girl to the ground. She was punching the girl as hard as she could when the blond managed to get a kick in. It took her off guard and she backed away. The blonde started getting aggressive and got a few good punches to the redhead's face. Her nose and lip started bleeding again but she didn't back down. She took control of the fight once more.

She brought the blond to the mat back where she got her into a submission hold. The blonde squiggled around out of the submission hold. The redhead did this amazing spinning back-kick which landed in the middle of the blonde's stomach. She doubled over making it easier for the redhead to get her back into another submission hold. It didn't take long for the blond to drift into unconsciousness this time. When the fight ended, the redhead was declared the winner.

Nate was still wheeling and dealing upstairs. He almost had the signature they needed. After seeing Eliot's fight he was convinced. Nate had him on the hook and they were discussing the terms of the agreement. Once everything had been finalized, Eugene eagerly signed the papers Nate, or JD, had given him. The two men shook hands before Nate took the papers, stuffed them into his jacket and left the office.

As soon as the sweaty and bloody redhead left the ring, Eliot was right there to walk her to the dressing room. When she saw him, the stranger with the most magnificent blue eyes she'd ever seen, her eyes went wide.

_"I'm not here to hurt you. We just want to talk with you."_ Eliot quietly told her in her ear

He grabbed her arm, not hard enough to harm her but with enough force to let her know she'd have a fight on her hands if she tried to run again, as he escorted her to gather her things.


	6. Chapter 6

She wiggled trying to get free. She thought about fighting him. They both knew she could take him. After the fight she had just had in the ring, he was certain she didn't have the energy to fight him too. He escorted her into the dressing room where she quickly slid into a pair of jeans, a pink tank top with with eyes in the front, and quickly slipped into a pair of black flip flops. She grabbed her bag and turned the stranger.

Nate and Parker had everything they needed so as soon as Eliot emerged with the redhead, they took off to their headquarters. The entire group was silent on the ride. Eliot, Parker and Nate watched the girl carefully. As Eliot looked at her he knew she was calculating her escape should she need it. Parker could tell she was uncomfortable around them because she had felt the same way when they decided to keep going after that first job 5 years ago. Nate could see the young woman needed something. He wasn't sure yet what.

Sophie was talking to Hardison about food on the way home. Eliot just stared at her making sure she wasn't going to bolt from the moving vehicle. Parker tried to talk to the unknown woman but Eliot quickly hushed her attempts. They finally pulled up into the Micro-Brewery where Hardison parked Lucille II. Parker quickly opened the back door and hopped out. Eliot gently grabbed the redhead's arm and ushered her out too with Nate following close behind. She was looking around, gathering her bearings and trying to learn her surroundings. Parker knew what she was doing.

She was ushered upstairs of the Micro-Brewery. Where were they taking her? What was going to happen? She had been so careful. The security guards never even knew she was there until she dropped them. She stayed in the shadows and out of the way of the cameras. She was in and out as quickly as humanly possible. Hardison opened the door revealing their headquarters and living spaces. Parker plopped down on the couch and watched the new girl closely. Sophie found a seat at the table they used for going over their cons.

Nate stood in front of the 6 TV screens on the wall. Hardison sat down in front of his computer at the desk. Eliot sat down in the armchair on the left side of the living room and watched as she stood there looking around. Sophie took in the girl as she stood there obviously uncomfortable in their presence. She was perhaps 5'0 or 5'1, it was easy to see she was all woman, gorgeous red hair that came to her shoulders, and sharp green eyes. After seeing her in the ring, the Matriarch of the group noticed she was very well toned.

"Who are you?" Parker finally questioned

Everyone watched as she finally turned her attention to them. As Eliot stared at her, he could see the paranoia and mistrust. Her eyes turned to Eliot, who was watching her intently, and saw him give her a warm smile. She moved her eyes to the other four people in the room before taking a deep breath.

"Zoe." She quietly replied

"It's nice to meet you, Zoe. I'm Sophie. This is Nate, that's Parker and the guy on the other side of Parker is Hardison. You've already met Eliot over there." Sophie stated, pointing everyone to the redhead

"You've been interfering with our jobs." Nate blurted out

"Unintentional." Zoe simply stated

"Who do you work for?" Nate asked, softening his voice after Sophie shot him a look

They watched as Zoe looked suspiciously around the apartment.

"Myself." Was the only reply they got from her

"Sweetheart, we only want to help. We're the good guys." Sophie added in

Zoe's laughter took them all by surprise. Eliot sat back and watched her. He knew that kind of laugh. She didn't believe them. She was still waiting for trouble to start.

"Who's after you?" Eliot questioned, making her dart her eyes away from him

"I can take care of myself." She immediately retorted, crossing her arms across her chest

"We're not the bad guys here. Like I told you, we're not going to hurt you. We just want to talk." He stated, eyes still boring into her

"We just want to help." Sophie added in

Zoe looked around at all their faces. Those blue eyes that had turned so soft. She looked at him and something told her he wasn't lying to her.

"Just trying to survive." She simply stated

"Not many people can take out Eliot like you did!" Parker laughed with a childlike laughter

Zoe looked between the blond woman and the blue-eyed man known to her as Eliot. He growled signaling he didn't like the jab she had made at him. Nate was still trying to size up the young woman. He had so many questions that he wanted to ask her. There were so many things that needed explaining. She couldn't help but wonder who the hell these people were. Sophie had said that they were the good guys. She didn't really believe good guys actually existed.

"Can you tell us what you were doing in those buildings?" Sophie cautiously questioned

The Grifter watched as the girl licked her lips. Was she nervous? Did they frighten her? She sighed heavily figuring they weren't going to leave her alone. She began looking around again to see if she could escape. Eliot stood up and walked towards the door.

"Here's the door. You can leave any time you like. We won't keep you here against your will." Eliot told her with a soft voice, "We're just curious about you and why you've been showing up at our jobs."

She watched him and his body language. He was calm and not in fight mode. She had no reason to trust these strangers. No reason to tell them anything. She had been surviving quite well on her own.

"Sophie, go get the medical kit. Hardison, get some ice packs. Parker, get a glass of water." Eliot instructed when the girl didn't move

She sat down in the middle of the couch as Eliot took the medical kit Sophie had brought him. The rest of the team watched as he cautiously tended to her wounds from the fight. Not a word was spoken. Parker handed Sophie the glass of water and Sophie set it down on the coffee table about a foot from where Eliot was sitting on it. Everyone watched as she barely winced as he doctored up her wounds from the fight. Once she was all bandaged up, he handed her the glass of water. Nate watched as she sniffed the glass, still paranoid that she was being set up, before cautiously taking a sip.

Eliot pressed one ice pack to her mouth while he set the other on top of her right hand. She watched as he moved back to where he had been sitting before. Sophie moved to sit in the opposite armchair.

"I help people." She replied

"How?" Nate questioned

Parker had started bouncing up and down in her seat like they had just found a puppy to bring home. She shrugged her shoulders.

"Sometimes people complain about their boss being a jerk or stealing from the company. I help. Take something for myself to get by." She explained

"That's what we do!" Parker bellowed loudly

"Huh?!" Zoe asked

"We have a new client. Why don't you sit in with us while we do what we do best? We can show you how we help people." Nate suggested


	7. Chapter 7

Nate made sure she could get back to the Micro-Brewery and made her promise to be there the next day at 9am. She never really agreed, just looked around at the five faces looking at her. Eliot watched as she shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly. She wasn't sure she wanted to return to these people. Grabbing her bag, she walked briskly towards the door. With one last look at the five strangers staring at her, she left the apartment.

Sophie asked Eliot to get here a little early to make breakfast. He looked at her funny but the enthusiastic looks on Parker's and Hardison's faces made him agree. Eliot was curious as to what Sophie was doing but didn't question her. Nate looked to his lover questioningly as well. He would talk to her privately about what she was thinking once everyone left. Hardison had already began running the girl's face through his facial recognition software.

He wasn't coming up with anything. It was like Zoe was a freakin' ghost. Nate told the group to go home and get some rest. Parker didn't need to be told twice. Hardison wanted to work a little longer and see what he could come up with on their new friend. Eliot left to follow Zoe. He wanted to know where she was staying. He also wanted to make sure she got to her place safely. When she reached the motel she was staying at, she looked around to make sure she hadn't been followed. Eliot was very good at what he did and he knew she hadn't seen him.

Eliot noted that she was staying in the absolute worst part of town in one of the seediest motel's he'd come across since Serbia. Why was she staying here? She had nabbed at least 10k from that one job. She could be staying in a decent hotel in a much better part of town. Was she staying here to hide from whoever was after her? He noted the address as well as the room number before heading off to his own apartment. After the fights he'd been in the last few days, he wanted a nice, long hot shower to ease his aching muscles.

They were to meet back at Nate's at 9am. Sophie wanted him to make breakfast for everyone. He was very curious as to what she was doing. As he stood in the streaming hot water, his mind wandered back to the mysterious redhead who could kick his ass. She was petite but powerful. Who was she? He wondered who could be after her. With a heavy sigh, he fell back onto his bed to try and get some sleep. It had been a long few days!

As soon as she made it to her motel, she quickly locked the door and put in her own locking mechanism. She checked her room for bugs before stripping down and getting a hot shower. She was very sore from the intense fight she had won earlier in the evening. Meeting the blue-eyed man, officially, was a bit of shock. He was a damned good fighter. The first meeting they had and the fight she had seen him in this evening had proven that.

The next morning she woke up and sat on her bed debating her options. There was absolutely no reason to trust these people. They had her face and her first name now, though. If they wanted to kill her they could have done it last night while she was at their lair. Since she woke up in her room they obviously hadn't broken in and killed her. Her stomach began making noises reminding her she hadn't eaten much in the last 48 hours. With a heavy sigh, she dug through her bag to find something to wear.

Ripped jeans, punk like top, and her favorite combat boots was what she ultimately chose. She packed her bag with her wallet, pre-paid cell phone, a change of clothes, police uniform, rope, her room key, and rappelling equipment. As she left her room she wasn't sure if going to this place was a good idea or not. She didn't want to go. She wanted to keep on doing what she'd been doing.

Before she knew it, it was 8:30am and she was standing just outside the Micro-Brewery. She looked around and debated on whether or not to actually go in. Something told her she should. Her gut, her instincts, had never let her down before. With one final deep breath, she opened the door and slowly entered the quiet building. Sophie was standing by the bar and gave her a warm smile as she entered. Sophie waved her hand to the door that led to the upstairs condo. Without saying a word, Zoe went in the direction she had been instructed.

When she entered the room, after Sophie softly nudging her inside the door, she was bombarded with something that smelled incredible. Parker was bouncing in her seat at the bar to the kitchen. Hardison was sitting at his desk in front of all the TV screens working his magic. He was doing some researching on their next job. Nate was sitting at the kitchen table sipping a cup of coffee and watching his team.

"Good morning, Zoe." Nate stated as he noticed her enter

"Uh, morning." She stated, looking around

"Breakfast should be done in a few minutes." Sophie exclaimed before entering the kitchen to get plates and silverware

Eliot placed the omelets he'd made on each plate along with some crispy bacon. Sophie helped take the six plates to the table. She didn't know what the young girl would drink so she waited until the redhead had arrived before asking what she wanted. Zoe replied with OJ if they had it making the elder brunette woman smile at her. Once everything was ready, the expanding group sat down for breakfast.

She cautiously sat down at the end of the table and watched the group before her. The smells from her plate were quite inviting. Everyone was eating so she cautiously began digging into her breakfast too. She wouldn't admit it out loud, or to this group of strangers, but this was probably the best meal she'd had in a very, very long time. Sophie got Nate talking about something that only they would remember. Eliot and Parker kept a silent watch on Zoe. Parker knew better than anyone how nervous she must be. Once everyone was done with breakfast, Hardison had everyone move over to the living room.

"So, the mark is Mark Garrison. He's head of research & development at Archimond International." Hardison stated as he stood in front of of the monitors and brought up their mark's face, "He blatantly steals his researchers work then either fires them or…"

"Or what, Hardison?" Eliot irritably questions

"The last two people just went missing. He's a nasty piece of work." Hardison explained

"So how do we get this guy, Nate?" Sophie questioned

Nate moved around to stare at the documents and photos on the six large TV monitors. Nothing was coming to mind right away. Zoe looked between Nate and the rest of the team. He was obviously the leader of the group. Hardison was their computer expert & researcher it seems. Zoe was unsure what the two ladies' jobs were. Eliot. Well, he was obviously the muscle of the group. They began chatting about techniques to use and what con would be best.

"Why don't you just break in steal back what's he's stolen and replace it with stuff more unsavory people would hunt him down for?" Zoe questioned as if the answer was completely obvious

Everyone turned to look at her in shock.


	8. Chapter 8

She looked around at the five faces who were staring at her. She shrugged her shoulders making Parker laugh. It was simple. Nate went on to explain about getting around security systems, motion sensors, heat sensors, and some of the other things they'd encountered on jobs. Her near-maniacal laughter caught them all off guard. She wasn't just another thief. She had been breaking into things since before she could remember her true name. She'd been taught everything she knows even if she wasn't as great at hacking as the young black man in the room.

"Something funny?" Nate questioned, eyeing her suspiciously

"Yeah." She simply retorted, grabbing her bag and walking towards the door

Yes. She would be better off on her own. She'd survived this long, she could survive as long as she needed to. The group just looked at one another as she left them in stunned silence. Nate nodded towards the door as he looked over at Eliot. If anyone could drag her back it would be him. The retrieval specialist when to go retrieve the young woman. She had just walked out the door to the Brewery when Eliot caught up to her.

"Zoe! Stop." Eliot exclaimed

She didn't bother acknowledging his presence as she continued to walk away. Eliot's patience was waning as he reached out and grabbed her arm a bit forcefully.

"Let me go." She growled irritably

"We don't know what all you know. You don't know how we work. There's no need to walk away from us. Let's talk. Get to know one another." Eliot tried reasoning

She laughed. He really hated being laughed at even though she wasn't exactly laughing _**at**_ him per se.

"I don't need you people. I'm doing quite well on my own." She retorted defiantly

He growled at her in frustration. Sophie was much better at talking with people than he was. She watched him carefully.

"Why are you with them? You're too good of a fighter to just be some group's hired muscle." She stated, this time taking him off guard

"You have no idea what I've done before I joined the team. I, well, all of us really, used to think we were better off on our own. We've done some amazing things together as a team. Things we never could have done solo. Give us a chance." Eliot explained a bit more calmly

She looked at him trying to decipher if he was deceiving her or not. After the things she had witnessed and done for Van Bree she didn't really believe anyone could be worse than her. She was anonymous in the criminal underworld and that's the way she liked it. Her deeds, however, they were well-known. His blue eyes watched her carefully as she debated with herself. He understood the mistrust and suspicion she held.

With a heavy sigh, she turned her whole body towards the taller man. He gave her a small smile as he began making his way back to the Micro-Brewery. She followed silently behind brunette as they made their way back into the headquarters/condo. Upon hearing a very verbal argument, she stopped just outside the door. Sophie, the British woman, could be heard apparently reading the elder man the riot act about how he had behaved. Seeing that Zoe hadn't followed him into the condo, Eliot turned to see where she was. He ushered her into the room making Parker wave enthusiastically at the young woman.

Hardison welcomed her back as she sat back down where she had previously occupied. Nate cleared his throat as he welcomed her back as well. Sophie gave the young redhead a warm smile knowing she had won the battle. Zoe still wasn't impressed with their little operation but made a silent, unspoken promise to Eliot to give them a chance. To her credit, Hardison did say that the idea she had given them was the absolute easiest plan they had at the moment. Nate wasn't so sure, especially about the _'stuff more unsavory people would hunt him down for'._

"Well let's say we go with that. What exactly would we be replacing what we steal with? We're not in the habit of getting people killed." Nate stated firmly

"Incriminating evidence of some sort." She shrugged

"Very helpful." Parker stated being her usual Parker self

Zoe frowned at the blond bringing a small smile to Eliot's face. Nate began telling them what he thought they should do.

"Actually Nate, Zoe's idea isn't that bad. Simple in and out would work. Get the documents we need, plant documents to incriminate him for a worse crime." Sophie piped up

"We need to account for the security system and alarms. What would we plant?" Nate questioned, walking back and forth in front of the monitors

Hardison began typing feverishly on his keyboard to figure out what they could plant instead. Zoe piped up forged IRS documents showing tax evasion. Everyone stopped to look at her. Once again she shrugged like it was no big deal. Hardison got on a tangent about how great of an idea it was and how easy it would be to get the documents to plant.

Nate got to planning their con. It was an easy enough job. In, switch documents, and out again. As long as Hardison could keep the camera feed looping the empty building they shouldn't have any problems. Zoe cocked her eyebrow at the leader as he sat down at the little desk to begin the planning. Parker slid off her seat and headed out of the condo. Sophie headed upstairs. Zoe looked around before silently grabbed her bag and made her way out of the condo.

Eliot was quick to get up and follow her. They were about a block from the Brewery when he caught up to her. She decided, knowing he was following her, that she was not about to lead these strangers to where she was staying. What she didn't know, however, was that Parker was following them too. She zig-zagged across the city trying to shake the tail these people had on her. When she felt that no one was following her, she finally made her way to her run-down hotel.

Eliot realized she knew he was following her. He also knew that she had no clue Parker was tailing her too. He backed off to let her feel comfortable that she had shaken his tail so that she'd lead them back to her motel. He knew where she was staying. Hardison knew where she was staying. They wanted to plant some bugs in her room so that they could keep an eye on her. Eliot was convinced someone was out for her. Hardison thought he was just being paranoid as usual.

Parker could get into just about anywhere and not make a single sound. When she was sure Zoe was taking a shower, the lithe blond slipped into her room to plant the micro-camera/bugs where Hardison had told her to. She was in and out in under 2 minutes. The team instantly had access to her motel room. Sophie was shocked to see how bad the room was and couldn't believe she would stay there voluntarily. Eliot was more worried about the area the motel was located in than anything else.

"Eliot, Parker, get back here." Nate stated over their comms

The Hitter and the Thief quickly made their way back to their headquarters. Sophie was watching the screens and watching the young woman in her room. She felt a bit sick knowing they were spying on her in such an intimate way. Spying on a mark was one thing. They'd never really watched them in their bedrooms or anything. Watching her in a motel room seemed a bit…. She wasn't sure of the word really…. Icky almost. Like they were peeping toms.

Nate wasn't sure what to make of the young redhead. Hardison was using his facial recognition program to see what he could drudge up about her. A few dings could be heard. The Mastermind looked up to see her young face on a wanted poster from Ethiopia, Somalia, Bulgaria, and North Korea. What on earth could she be wanted in those countries for?! Eliot and Parker finally returned to their headquarters in time for Hardison to tell the group what he'd found.

"Before the age of about 18 or 20 there is absolutely nothing on her. No school records, no hospital records, no immunization records, nothing." Hardison started

"There's only 1 reason there's no record of her before a certain age." Parker piped up making everyone look at her funny, "She was in the foster care system."

"Or worse." Sophie stated as the group watched the young woman getting dressed in her motel room

She was covered in tattoos. Eliot had a feeling a few of them were probably covering scars. Why was she wanted in those countries? Stealing in Italy or France would get you on the wanted list for sure. Being wanted in those four countries, however, you had to do something awful. Things like he had done. Zoe had no idea she was being watched. After her shower, she moved into the room to change clothes. She sat down on the bed and brought out her laptop. She needed to check her accounts and check to make sure she knew where Evan was. She could never let him get to close to her.


	9. Chapter 9

Nate wanted to get the team back on track with their latest mark. They had plenty of planning to do to make sure things went as smoothly as possible. No matter what Nathan Ford was or did, he always put the safety of the team first. He really hated taking unnecessary risks. Nate wasn't sure if this woman was an unnecessary risk or not but Sophie was convinced the girl needed their help.

"She's off the grid. Whatever aliases she's used or is using aren't raising any flags with any government agencies. She's good at staying under the radar." Hardison explained

"What happened when she was 18 or 20?" Nate questioned

"Well, I'm not sure." Hardison stated with a frown, "Something happened but I haven't found what just yet."

Eliot could think of a few reason why she stayed off the grid. None of them were very good. He stood up and headed down to the Brewery to make a few phone calls. Vance was the best person he could call. He knew the importance of discretion. Colonel Vance was quite surprised to hear from Eliot. They talked for a little while before Vance promised to send him all the information he could gather. Eliot thanked his former commander before ending their call.

He needed to know who this woman was. What she had done. What had been done to her? If anyone could dig up dirt on her it would be Vance. Hardison was good but sometimes things are only on paper. If there were no computer files then Hardison would be out of luck. Vance could get him some real Intel on this woman. This woman who, and he would never admit it to anyone, reminded so much of himself.

He headed into the kitchen to check on their staff. Hardison may have bought the Micro-Brewery but he had turned it into a real restaurant. He was just checking things out making sure they were doing what he had instructed them too. Satisfied that the kitchen was running flawlessly, he headed back into their headquarters. Having had enough discussion on the young woman, Nate got the team back on track with their mark and what con would be best. Unceremoniously Eliot plopped down in his seat in between Parker and Sophie.

As Hardison had begun really digging through more seedy files, he discovered their mark had some information on a lowbie mob guy. If the Mob knew he had such information then they would surely do whatever they could to get it back. Nate had to give it to the redhead. She had pretty well nailed what they should do. How could they contact her to bring her into this con? While Nate and Hardison were going over plans, Sophie was creating the characters they were to be using should they need them during the con.

Around 5pm Eliot headed down to the Brewpub to gather some ingredients for the dinner he was preparing for everyone when his eyes landed on the mysterious redhead. She had just been seated at a small table in the shadows of the pub. Before he forgot what he was doing, he headed into the kitchen to get his ingredients. Once he had everything he had come for, he moved to stand next to her table.

"We were wondering how we were going to contact you." He stated, voice low and almost growling

"Breakfast was good so I thought I would come and see if the restaurant did decent supper as well." She stated, unconsciously looking around

"Come on up and have dinner with us." Eliot stated, "You won't be sorry."

It had really been a long while since she had anyone to have dinner with. Breakfast had been the first time in nearly 3 years to be exact. His blue eyes staring at her, waiting for an answer, suddenly made her shake her head yes. She wasn't sure why. He flashed her a soft smile before nodding his head towards the stairs. She followed the tall brunette up to the headquarters. Sophie was quite surprised to see Eliot return with Zoe in tow.

She greeted the young woman cordially as Parker settled on the couch. Hardison was still doing his research. Sophie found a seat with Nate at his table to go over things. Zoe was once again feeling out of place. This is why she never felt the need to find another family. With nothing better to do, she walked over to the bar that over looked the kitchen and found a seat. She dropped her bag quietly at her feet as she watched what Eliot was doing.

He seemed to so at ease as he chopped the onions and celery he'd gotten from downstairs. The man she had accidently bumped into was uptight and ready to fight. This guy was calm and almost at home here in the kitchen. He didn't say a word to her as he worked on chopping his vegetables before getting to chopping up and boiling potatoes. What was he creating? She was certain she couldn't create anything worth anything.

Eliot turned to check on the pot roast that had been simmering since before breakfast. It was nearly falling apart as it was picked up. The Hitter smiled to himself seeing his dinner coming together nicely. It wouldn't take the potatoes long to cook then he could begin making gravy. She watched as he got a large skillet out, poured a little bit of cooking oil in it, and then slid in the whole chopped onion and celery.

Sophie sat with Nate watching Zoe watching Eliot. She couldn't help but wonder what the redhead was thinking. Where did Eliot find her? How did he get her to come back up here? Sophie hadn't seen either of them speak a word to one another as Eliot continued cooking and she sat there watching him. The girl was petite but quite fit. She was wondered just how she got the better of Eliot?

An hour of silence later Eliot was calling everyone to the dinner table. He had to remind himself to set out 6 plates instead of the usual 5. Zoe found a seat at the far end of the table closest to the door. Nate sat at the head of the table with Sophie on his left and Eliot on his right. Parker sat on Sophie's left with Hardison directly in front of her. Zoe watched as Eliot sat down a plate of slow-cooked pot roast, mashed potatoes, thick brown gravy, caramelized onions and celery, and hot buttered what looked to be homemade rolls.

Everyone was quiet for a bit as they ate dinner. Parker, being her usual self, couldn't take the silence much more.

"So where are you from?" She questioned making everyone look at her

Zoe looked at the blond in surprise. Nate looked up to see if she was going to answer. Eliot looked over to her to see how she reacted.

"Texas originally." She stated apprehensively

Eliot was quite surprised to hear her tell them. Of course she could be lying to them. She really didn't have a reason to tell them the truth.

"Where did you grow up? If you didn't stay in Texas?" Parker questioned innocently

It had been a long time since anyone had asked her these simple questions. Her natural paranoia was kicking in and she began to wonder if she really hadn't walked into a trap. The last time anyone had asked her these type of questions, well…... it hadn't really ended all that well.

"All over really." Zoe replied

Her answers bothered Nate. She was being very vague and almost secretive. What was she hiding? Was Eliot right when he said someone was after her?

"Where did you learn to fight like you did?" Sophie asked, just wanting to get to know the young woman better

Zoe shrugged, "On the streets mostly. I had some teachers along the way though."

Eliot knew better. He'd seen a few of her moves before but hadn't realized it until now.

"Would you like to join us on our next job?" Nate asked

His question seemed to shock the young woman. Was he offering her a job? Was it a trick? Was it a set up? Sophie smiled warmly at the young woman. Zoe darted her eyes over to Eliot who was merely staring at her as he sipped his beer.

"Uh. Ok. I guess." She stated uncertainly


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Woot! Double Digits! Thanks for reading this far! I really hope I'm doing this Universe justice. Things will begin to get a bit more complicated and things about poor Zoe will begin to be revealed. Otherwise enjoy!**

* * *

Zoe wasn't about to admit it. They had pulled off the con quite well. She liked how they had come together to do their respective jobs. Things had gone much smoother than being solo. Nate was quite impressed with how Zoe had performed with the team. She had the skills of Eliot, a lot of Parker and quite a few of Hardison. She could be quite useful and he realized it. More than any of them actually realized.

Nate and Sophie were downstairs wrapping up their client debriefing. Eliot, Hardison, and Parker were upstairs winding down from the job. Eliot had already retreated into the kitchen to prepare a quick lunch for the group. Zoe was still feeling out of place and couldn't decide where she wanted to be. Hardison was talking with Parker quietly at their briefing table. Eliot watched Zoe from the kitchen. He could tell she was still uncomfortable around them.

She found a seat at the bar and just watched in silence as he began to pan-sear some turkey and ham. It fascinated her to watch him as he added in some sliced white onions, sliced green, red, and yellow peppers. Whatever he was doing was smelling really good. She just nodded at him each time he looked over at her. He had done terrible things. Things that made him believe he didn't deserve love, happiness, or tranquility.

"It wasn't so bad, was it? Working with a team?" Hardison asked as he walked over to where she was sitting

"It was…. different." She simply replied, eyes never leaving what Eliot was doing

"It took us a little bit to get used to it too. We've done some amazing things together, though." The Hacker went on to say

"So I've heard." She replied

She really didn't want to give these people much about her. Trust was not something she gave out lightly, if at all. Eliot looked up and caught her eye. She looked away quickly as Nate and Sophie finally returned to the headquarters. She found a seat next to Zoe as Nate was going through the mail. They had gotten paid and he was separating each person's check. Once he handed Zoe her check, she nodded at the group.

"Well, this has been real fun. Thanks for the job but it's time for me to go." She stated, standing up

"Why?" Parker questioned

"I work alone." Zoe stated as she leaned down to grab her bag

"We did to until one job we were hired for. Then we realized we worked even better together." Hardison added

"You have to admit, working with us was fun." Sophie smiled at her

"I appreciate the job. Really. You guys work well together and are doing good. I wish you the best of luck." Zoe stated

The group of four watched as she made her way to the door. Eliot did tell her she could leave anytime she liked.

"I have one more job. Stick with us on it. If you aren't convinced working with us is better than being alone then we'll leave you alone. Deal?" Nate exclaimed as he came down the stairs

How had she not realized he was coming down the stairs? Zoe looked over to where the Mastermind stood staring at everyone else.

"Just one job?" Zoe questioned

The group knew what that meant. They had all said 'just one more job' before as well. Parker smiled happily while Hardison went to do a little more digging on the newest member of their little crew. Eliot got back to making their lunch but he kept a close eye on the redhead. He was still wanting to know her history.

"Just one job, it's all I'm asking. If you don't change your mind about working with a team… with us… then you can walk away and we'll forget we ever met." Nate stated, coming to a stop in front of her

With a deep breath and after looking Nathan straight in the eye she said, "Fine. I'll stick around for just one more job. Then I'm done with you people and on my way."

"Fair enough. Now I believe lunch is nearly ready." He replied with a twinkle in his eye

* * *

Their next job was a bit more complicated than the first one she had accompanied the Leverage team on. Things had gone wrong but she was surprised at how well Nate adapted and adjusted the plan. She had remained pretty silent throughout the job, only speaking when it was absolutely necessary. As much as she hated to admit it, this team was damn good. Better than she ever thought was possible. The friendly banter back and forth between Hardison and Parker was kind of cute. Almost sickening cute at time but who was she to judge?

The entire team, Zoe included, had attended the client debriefing. This was a feeling Zoe wasn't used to. Instead of causing destruction, which is partly what the team did but not on her level, they were actually helping people. She watched as the other five spoke to their client with happy smiles and general good cheer. Once the client left, everyone but Sophie and Nate headed up to their headquarters so Eliot could fix them lunch.

About half an hour later, the Grifter found a seat at the bar and threw out to the crew that they should have the third level of the brewery as their sleeping quarters. Eliot glanced over at Zoe and noted that she was suddenly on edge. She still didn't trust them. The young redhead was starting to feel boxed in. The Hitter stated, with a firm tone that perhaps, now wasn't the time to start thinking like that.

Nate was quick to agree with his lover about it, stating that it would be easier for them to work and lessened the chance of them getting attacked when trying to get to their own homes. Sophie was even quicker in adding in that they should all keep their own homes as well to keep up aliases and to have a place to go to when the team started driving them crazy. Eliot smirked slightly. He knew none of them would ever give up any of their safe-houses.

"I don't like this idea." Parker pouted

"It'll be OK, Parker. Like a sleep-over all the time." Sophie tried to reason

"It's a tactical move." Nate offered

"I don't like it either, Nate. Too easy to take us all out if we're living in one place." Eliot countered

"True. But Hardison will be upping the security. Both to his and to your standards." Nate retaliated, confident glean in his eye

Eliot opened his mouth like he was going to say something but he quickly shut it. Zoe sat quietly listening to the discussion about everyone moving into the Micro-Brewery. She didn't even have a safe-house in this city. She hadn't been here long enough to set one up. Eliot finally found a retort to Nate. The discussion began to get a bit heated, especially on Eliot's end, but it cooled down fairly quickly as well. As Eliot was putting together the sandwiches, the discussion came to an agreement that they would all move in. Zoe, who didn't feel as though she was a part of the group, figured the invite didn't include her and that was fine with her.

"How much stuff are you bringing?" Parker asked the redhead

"Say what?" Zoe asked, obviously confused

"To move in. How much stuff will you bring? Most of my treasures will stay where they're at but I'll bring some clothes and harnesses." Parker stated nonchalantly

"The invite is for you too, Zoe." Sophie said as she figured out that the redhead was probably feeling left out or not part of the group

"I'm fine on my own, really." Zoe quickly exclaimed

"This is not really a choice anymore." Eliot throwing a menacing look the redhead's direction

Zoe scowled at Eliot which was quite humorous to Parker.

"I don't much care if you say it's not a choice. I live where I want to live, not where someone forces me to live." Zoe stated as calmly as she could muster

Sophie asked her if she needed any help to bring her things over. With a quiet but polite tone, Zoe replied that she wouldn't need any help bringing her things because she wasn't moving in with them. Eliot got the undertone. She had some issues with authority figures and more so with control. Nate had moved and was sitting at his little table nursing a Scotch. He told everyone after lunch they should go get whatever they were going to bring over while he and Sophie prepped rooms upstairs.

Eliot watched as Zoe scoffed, "You have a wonderful little fraternity here. Ciao."

"Wait! You said you'd do this one job with us. Now that you've done the job, do you really want to leave?" Nate questioned from his seat

The small group watched as she looked at them all suspiciously. Sure, she could appreciate what they did.

"Your team is good. One of the best I've ever seen." Zoe replied

"That's not what I asked." Nate retaliated, knowing she was either stalling or didn't want to admit she liked working with them

Confrontations had never gone well with her and Eliot was picking up on that as he watched Zoe cross her arms across her chest.

"Look, you have everyone you need. Why do you want me to stick around so much?" She questioned, eyeing Nathan suspiciously

"No harm in having an extra hand." Nate simply stated

"Come on and stick around. It will be nice having the genders even around here." Sophie added in to lighten the mood


	11. Chapter 11

Zoe was the first to finish her lunch and then bolt. Nate told Eliot to follow closely to make sure she neither ran from them or anything happened to her. With a silent nod, Eliot was out the door and following their new comrade. She was so lost in her thoughts she hadn't realized Eliot was following her. It was a reckless move on her part. One that could easily get her killed. He watched from a shadowy location as she slipped into her motel room. Eliot watched his watch to see how long it would take her. Unsurprisingly she was in and out in just under 5 minutes.

She paid her tab at the office. He watched as she stood there debating where she was going.

"Where do you think you're going?" She heard Eliot all but growl at her

"That's what I was debating." She simply replied

"Nate expects everyone back at the Brewery. Let's go." Eliot told her

"I'm not a fucking child. I go where **I** want to go. Your little playground friends will be fine without me." She stated, anger seeping through her voice

His chuckle did not ease up her increasingly foul mood. She watched as he grabbed her arm at the right spot to ensure she couldn't jerk her arm away from him.

"You're coming back with us. They may not think so but I know there's someone after you. You've done things you're not proud of. Believe me when I say we'll have your back no matter what." Eliot stated firmly

Her very shocked expression amused him. Her angry reaction did not, however.

"You know **NOTHING** about me." She exclaimed

He silently escorted her all the way back, keeping his grip on her arm for good measure, to make sure that she made it with no problems. Once he was sure she was in the building, with Sophie telling him over the comms that Zoe had returned, he hopped into his charger and headed to his main home to gather some things. On the ride over, he went over what he wanted to bring with him since this would be his primary residence. By the time he'd arrived, he'd basically packed in his head. It didn't take him long to actually pack.

Zoe had cautiously entered the headquarters. She was beyond pissed. There wasn't a single person in sight when she arrived, which added to her anger, so she sat down in the armchair closest to the door. She set her bags down by her feet. Zoe had gotten away from controlling people and she didn't take very kindly to being forced back into these types of situations. Yes, she would be looking for a way out as quickly as she could get it.

Straining her ears she tried to listen for signs of life but she didn't hear a sound. The longer she sat there, the more she started to question her decision to not beat the shit out of Eliot and make a run for it. She was figuring this was a bad decision to even listen to these people to begin with. They were criminals. Of course, so was she but she was much worse than they could ever imagine. They would never accept her or 'have her back' like Eliot had said. Picking up her bags, she started towards the door.

"Oh, I didn't realize anyone had returned yet. Is that all you have or all you're bringing?" Sophie asked as Eliot quietly entered the two-tiered condo

"It's all I have." Zoe quietly replied, not realizing Eliot was standing a few feet behind her

"Nate is upstairs moving furniture around. When Hardison returns the boys will be going out to get the rest of the furniture that is needed." Sophie stated

"What all are we still needing, Sophie?" Eliot questioned as he made his presence known

Zoe jumped slightly, so slightly Sophie had missed it but Eliot had not, at hearing the man behind her. Sophie told the Hitter what all they would need to get to finish the basics. Everyone could decorate their rooms however they wished and add whatever they wanted to make it home. Zoe glared at Eliot, which Sophie did catch, before plopping down in the armchair she had just been sitting in. A few minutes later Parker and Hardison arrived with their own bags.

Nate came downstairs to see if his help had arrived yet or not. He was happy to see everyone, including Zoe, had come back. He noted that Zoe looked incredibly pissed off and seemed to be refusing to even acknowledge Eliot's presence. He looked over at Sophie who was talking to Hardison about a surround sound system or something. Parker was sitting on the kitchen counter munching on cereal.

He told Hardison that they needed two extra beds and four dressers. Sophie was quick to start talking about styles and such making Parker groan. All the young, blonde thief cared about was money. Well money and her new family. Hardison only really cared about was his electronics and gadgets and his new family. Being a Southern boy, Eliot had his own sense of style but he didn't need Sophie's help in deciding what he liked. Zoe, she was too pissed off to care about the style of her room.

Hardison pulled up a local furniture shop, a high end one, so that people could order what they wanted. Sophie helped as much as she could in deciding what each person would like. Nate stood aside with Eliot to talk about making each room sound proof. Nate made some excuse about not wanting to hear Hardison's video games but Eliot figured it was because the Mastermind didn't want the rest of the team hearing him having sex with Sophie. It wouldn't really take long, Eliot thought, and he figured he could have each room done by the time they went to bed. With any luck.

Nate knew the team would wind up modifying whatever furniture they got. He couldn't help but chuckle to himself at that. Secret compartments and such. Hardison was quick to pick out what he wanted because he mainly cared about the electronics that would be going into his room. Parker was quick to pick out what she wanted because she didn't really care. Zoe, after some prodding from Sophie, finally picked what she wanted. Eliot couldn't help but notice her style was a bit more gothic and Victorian.

Once everyone had chosen their furniture and purchased it, Nate ushered the two other men out of the apartment. They were off to go pick up their purchases leaving the three women temporarily alone. Sophie was used to Parker's craziness. She, like everyone else, knew that Zoe would have a hard time adjusting to them. The redhead was sitting quietly stewing about her predicament. As much as she hated to admit it, sticking with these people might actually help her in the long run.

Sophie tried to get the young woman to open up but found Zoe had put up walls. She tried to be friendly with these two women since they aren't the ones who had really pissed her off. Sophie explained in better detail some of the things they done in taking down their marks. Zoe nodded appreciatively. Parker wasn't too sure about Zoe. Nor did she understand why exactly Nate had wanted her to stay so badly.

Eliot was already getting irritated with Hardison as they were having their new furniture loaded into a box truck. Knowing the furniture was going to be heavy, they opted to pay extra to have the store delivery guys bring in and set everything up. The next place they needed to stop was a hardware store. Eliot wanted to sound-proof the rooms but Nate wasn't sure they would get to it tonight. One night wouldn't kill them but Eliot certainly wanted to have their bedrooms sound-proofed as soon as possible.

They followed the delivery guys back to the Brewery. Hardison paid them quite well to _'forget where they took their furniture to'_ and to _'forget what their faces looked like'_. The three delivery guys were quite pleased at the wad of cash they were each tossed. Nate, Hardison, and Eliot did everything they could to help the delivery guys get the furniture set up as quickly as possible. Sophie was excited when all the guys started bringing in the new furniture. Knowing Eliot wouldn't be up to cooking, she asked Zoe over into the kitchen so they could decide what to get for dinner.

Zoe was surprised that Sophie wanted her opinions on dinner. They discussed likes and dislikes and finally settled on Chinese and what exactly to order. It confused Zoe as to why she was being asked her opinions about dinner. It's not like she's honestly a part of this weird Robin Hood-esque group. Parker had been listening to the dinner discussion and smiled to herself. Zoe reminded Parker so much of herself especially after the team was formed. After setting up each bed and getting the dressers in the right room, Nate told Eliot the sound-proofing could wait until the next day.

By the time the beds and dressers had been put together and placed, their dinner arrived. Zoe stood back and watched how Parker and Sophie prepped everything. They got out a bottle of wine for those who drank it, an orange soda, and two beers. Zoe noted that the two women seemed perfectly at ease with the domesticated stuff. The sound of three grown men coming down the stairs could be heard and she darted her eyes towards them. Nate smiled at Sophie, Hardison winked at Parker as if anyone wouldn't see it and Eliot just sat himself down in front of his beer.

She sat down silently too as Sophie asked the gentlemen how things were going. The sound-proofing was going to have to wait until tomorrow but everyone could sleep in their rooms tonight once they made their beds. Zoe ate in silence as she watched the family-like atmosphere during dinner. It saddened, intrigued, and confused her. She didn't think Eliot was paying attention to her as he argued with Hardison about some techy stuff. He could tell she was still pissed at him but he would deal with that later.


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: I have to apologize for this being so short (for me at least) but I wanted Zoe and Eliot to bond a little bit. There will be a time skip in the next chapter and some great things to come. There's some drama and angst coming along as well, just a little further down the road. I want to thank everyone who's been reading. I hope y'all like this :) Otherwise, enjoy!**

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Zoe was laying in her bed listening to the sounds of quiet house. She was the first to retreat to her room after dinner. She was feeling trapped. Nothing good ever came out of the feeling of being trapped. She had paced her room numerous times. She stood and stared out her window for a while. Finally she laid down to try and get some sleep. She scoffed at herself for the thought. She had a hard time sleeping in a strange place.

_She silently slid the window from the kitchen open. There was a reason he had bought this house in this location. It was to keep people like her from finding him and his family and hurting them. He had failed miserably in that but he would never find out. Crouching on the counter, she shut the window as quietly as she had opened it up._

_Within seconds she was standing on the floor and surveying the room. There wasn't a neighbor for at least two mile so any sounds that could be made wouldn't do them any good. If no alarms were triggered then the alarm system did no good. She had turned the power off at the box before stealthily entering the large home. Knowing there was a large dog, she brought some drugged treats with her. As she was carefully walking to the stairs, the dog emerged from the living room. Their eyes met and before he could attack her, she threw one of the drugged treats to him._

_While the large dog was busy with the treat, she crouched her way upstairs. Although no one would be able to hear his screams should he make any, she didn't see any point in taking unnecessary risks. The small bag strapped to her bag had all her essentials in it and once she made it to the top of the stairs, she would make use out of its contents. His mother was first. He treasured his mother over everyone else including his wife. The elderly woman was fast asleep in her bed._

_She took out the first needle that held the Pentobarbital in it and quickly injected it into a vein between her toes. She waited 30 seconds before taking out a second needle filled with Potassium chloride in it. After repeating the process with the second needle, she left the old woman's room and headed down the hall to the main bedroom. She repeated the two-syringe process with each occupant of the bed. She checked on pulses before she left to ensure her job had been completed._

_She cautiously walked back downstairs. Again she didn't want to take unnecessary risks even if the occupants of the house were now dead. Her employer didn't care how she did it as long as the job got done. The dog was breathing still but was unconscious on the floor. She hopped up on the counter, opened the window, and slid out the very same way she had come in. The last thing to do was turn the power back on and begin the mile-long trek to her vehicle._

She awoke with a start. Her heart was pounding, there was sweat covering her face, and she could feel her body shaking slightly. Scowling at nothing or no one in particular, she hated when she had these dreams. Demons that lurked in the darkness of the night and waited for her to be alone and vulnerable. Throwing the covers off her body, she slid out of bed. She grabbed a Chamomile and Peppermint tea bag and headed downstairs to make herself a cup. Her silent steps shouldn't have woken anyone.

Eliot was sitting alone in his bed thinking about the redhead. There were so many questions about her and he knew it would be essential to find out. A shadow passing his room in the hallway piqued his interest. He slid out of his own bed not paying attention to red and black plaid cotton pajama bottoms which were the only things he wore to bed. The only light was that of the fridge which the door was open to give just a bit of light. He watched from the shadows of the hallway as she filled a coffee mug with water then put it in the microwave for 45 seconds.

She was making some sort of tea. As he stood in the darkness, he wondered why she was up so late. Everyone else was fast asleep. He was the exception, however, only needing about 90 minutes a night. It was something he had trained himself to do years again when he was still working in the military. It only got worse when he started working for Moreau. He never knew who might try to kill _him_ in the middle of the night. She silently moved into the living room and sat down on the couch. He took the opportunity to hop over the back and land on her right side. Instinctively she reached out and slugged him across his jaw.

"Ow! What was that for?" Eliot quietly hissed

"You shouldn't just scare someone like that. It could get you hurt." She replied, glaring at him in the darkness, "What the hell do you want, anyway?"

"Why are you up at this time of night?" He questioned

"I wanted some tea." She replied, turning away from him

He watched her, since his eyes had gotten used to the dark, and noted she looked tired even though she has supposed been sleeping. He thought if he shared a little bit she might open up too.

"I have nightmares too." Eliot quietly told her

She snapped her head around to look at him. How the hell had surmised about her nightmares?

"Good for you." She curtly retorted

"There's only two reasons people are up this time of night. 1) They're worried about something or someone and 2) They've had a nightmare. I have more experience with number 2 than I care to actually admit. I know the signs." He started making her eyes widen ever so slightly, "You're drinking Chamomile and Peppermint which are both calming. You haven't had a sip from that cup since you made it but you've been smelling it since you sat down."

Her jaw dropped at what he told her. How the hell did he read her like that? She was always so careful and she could lie to just about anyone.

"I don't know what you're talking about." She stated, voice wavering a bit

"Yesterday when you said I knew nothing about you. That wasn't true. I can tell there's someone after you from your behavior. You don't trust easily, you're paranoid, and you're hiding in the proverbial shadows. I know you've done awful things or you've witnessed something bad or else there wouldn't be someone after you." Eliot explained, watching her reaction

She felt like slapping the hell out of him. Or beating him within an inch of his life. Or knocking him unconscious, taking her stuff, then hauling ass. However she was so stunned at what he seemingly knew about her that all she could do was sit there and stare at him. He watched her as she weighed what she wanted to say or do. He was, in truth, waiting for her to attack him in anger.

"Listen, I'm fine. Really. Couldn't sleep and just wanted some tea." She calmly stated, trying to keep herself collected

"You're lying to me. Listen, I've done some…. unspeakable…. things. The team doesn't know every last detail but they understand what I used to be." Eliot told her

She was getting angry with him now.

"And what the fuck was that? Huh?!" She demanded, setting her cup down on the table in front of them

He smirked at her.

"I'm a retrieval specialist. I used to be nothing more than a contract killer doing other people's bidding. I've done some Black Ops shit. There's more blood on my hands than I'll ever be able to get off." He told her, voice softening as he watched her watching him

"Contract killer? Black Ops?" She scoffed, unbelieving him

"I'm telling you the truth. Something tells me you've done some similar things in your life. I meant what I said. This team will have your back. It took me a long time to trust them. Now, well, now there's nothing I won't do to keep them safe." Eliot stated

He let his words sink in. She had a hard time this guy used to be a contract killer. "Used to be" and "contract killer" were never used in the same sentence. You didn't get out of the game. She knew that for a fact even though she was trying. If it came down to her or someone else then she would do what needed to be done. Knowing she was chewing over what he had told her, he quickly got up and headed back to his room. Perhaps she would open up a little to them. At least be a little friendlier with the group.

Over the course of the next few months, they met several times during the week in the middle of the night for tea. He didn't sleep much and her nightmares would wake her. She would silently make her way down the hall and as she passed his room, he would leave his room and follow her. While she was making her tea, he got settled on the couch to wait for her. She started making two cups, one for him and one for her, and then made their way to the living room.

Although they never talked explicitly about the things they did, at least not yet, it was understood they had done about the same things. She respected him if nothing else. It was hard for her to trust but she was trying.


	13. Chapter 13

****FFW A YEAR & A HALF LATER****

* * *

Zoe sat there listening to the plan on how to take their latest mark down. She looked at everything she was seeing on the screen that Hardison had brought up. There was something about this woman and her operation that got to her. Sophie and Nate were talking about the best way to get in and get what they needed. Parker was confused about this mark's business. Zoe wasn't paying attention to anything the group said.

"Listen what you need is Eliot and me going to her club playing Master and Slave." Zoe piped up

What she said made Eliot nearly choke on the water he was drinking.

"Say what?" Hardison exclaimed, shock still on his young face

"She's running a BdSm style club. If you want to get in you need one Master and his or her Slave. Eliot has the most control and dominating presence out of all of you and I have the experience. It won't take me long to get him up to speed on what he should and should not do." Zoe stated nonchalantly

Parker began to giggle at the idea and Sophie was still getting over her shock.

"Well, what do we need to do in order to pull this off?" Nate questioned

Zoe stood up and explained how those typical clubs are run. Hardison quickly started his research as she spoke. Eliot was watching Zoe closely. She hardly ever just interrupted in a briefing nor did she suggest being paired with him. Nate was curious as to what Zoe meant when she said she had experience with this. Sophie was trying to figure out what costumes they would need as well as the characters to play. She was the master grifter, after all!

Zoe knew what they needed to look like. She knew exactly how to play this. She told Hardison the basic set-up of these types of clubs and said getting the building schematic would be preferable. It didn't take the Hacker long to find the schematics so Parker could learn her route to the office. Sophie was talking about their costumes but was taken aback when Zoe said she would have that covered as well. Nate raised his eyebrow but didn't say a word.

Nate and Sophie continued to plan the con while Hardison and Parker were going over their parts. Zoe excused herself so she could get what she needed. No one said a word to her as she left. Eliot watched her go wondering just what was going to happen on this con. Something in the pit of his gut told him that whatever was going to happen at this club would change everything between him and Zoe.

They had a 2 days to get everything together. As Zoe went to get the items that would help them pull this con off, she sincerely hoped Eliot was a fast study. His performance would be pivotal in selling their "relationship". She found the right clothes for them both and some nice accessories. This had to be perfect or their mark wouldn't buy it. She also knew that the rest of the team were probably wondering how she knew all of this but she really didn't want to go into great details.

When she returned to their headquarters she found everyone was pretty much in the same places she'd left them with the exception of Eliot. Nate informed her that the Hitter was up on the roof working out. She nodded at the Mastermind before dropping her stuff off in her room. With a deep breath, she walked through the living room and headed up to the roof. Zoe found the Hitter repeatedly hitting the punching bag that had been set up on the roof just for him.

"Eliot?" Zoe stated loud enough she knew he heard her

She watched as he stopped punching the bag. He turned to look at her. There was a sudden knot in her stomach knowing the conversation they were about to have.

"What?" He asked, more irritation in his voice than he really intended

"I wanted to talk to you about this job." She simply stated, noted just how sweaty he was

Was he pissed?

"What do I need to know?" He questioned, slowly taking the boxing gloves off

"There's quite a lot you need to know. Do you want to talk about it now? We've only got about 2 days so we need to get started relatively soon." Zoe explained

"Give me the chance to go get cleaned up. We can talk as I cook dinner in the Gastro-Pub." He told her

"Fair enough. I'll see you down there." She replied with a slight smile

He watched as she turned and walked to the stairs leaving him to his work out. It was true, he did need to know whatever she wanted to teach him for this job. Zoe had suggested that it was him and her being the faces of this con. She had suggested they play Master and Slave, whatever that meant. What did that mean? Hell, what would that entail? He let his mind try to figure out the answers as he pounded his punching bag a little longer.

Zoe entered the condo unceremoniously. Hardison was trying to convince Parker to go to some geeky sci-fi thing. It was obvious to the redhead that the blonde didn't quite get or understand what the Hacker was talking about. Sophie was talking to Nate about some dinner-and-show event she wanted to go to. Did this mean she would be alone with Eliot for dinner? Parker's delighted squeal caught her attention as she made her way upstairs and to her room.

When Eliot finally returned downstairs he found Nate in a nice suit waiting on Sophie. He raised an eyebrow at the Mastermind who told them about the dinner and show Sophie was dragging him too. Eliot just shook his head as he headed upstairs. Parker nearly bowled him over as she ran down the hallway. Before he could make it to his door, Sophie came out of the room she was sharing with Nate in a very nice evening dress. He smiled at her briefly before opening his door.

Eliot grabbed his shower stuff and made his way into the bathroom. He thought he would be cooking for all 6 of them but now it was looking more like just 4. Or so he thought. When he emerged from his bedroom fresh from a nice hot shower, he found the condo empty. He figured Hardison and Parker would still be there. Zoe emerged from her room to find Eliot in the kitchen. She thought they would be down in the Gastro-Pub. When he noticed her coming, he gave her a small smile.

She sat at the bar while he began prepping for dinner. He asked where Parker and Hardison were at and was surprised to hear her say that the pair had gone out as well. He looked over at her so she started giving him the basics. He listened carefully as he chopped veggies for whatever he was making. He nodded as she spoke trying to understand what they were going to be doing. Zoe watched him carefully as she described what "the lifestyle" was all about. He seemed to be uncomfortable with it but she had to make him not only comfortable but confident as well.

As they sat down to the delicious dinner he'd made for them, he made a confession.

"I'm not sure I'm comfortable with this." He stated

"You have to remember that for this con, we are ….. together. For this con I **belong** to you. Respect, trust, love, power, control, honesty. Those are what this life is about. Some people who have all the power and control in their professional life, or even personal life, they like the power play. They give up all the control and power and be slaves or subs. It's… it's freeing.

The same goes for those who have no control or power in their everyday lives. Quite a few of them become doms or masters. It lets them live their lives. You have to have trust and respect, on both sides of the coin, or else things just won't work." She explained

"What do you mean?" He questioned, furrowing his brows

"The subs, slaves or bottoms have to have trust in their doms, masters, or tops. Trust that they won't go over the line, that they won't hurt them in a bad way, and that they won't go too far. The doms, masters, or tops have to be respectful of the other's wishes and desires. They have to respect the relationship and the comfort lines of the other." She stated

"Hmm." Was all he stated

"Take us, for this con, for example. The first club you will be my Master. I trust you to not let anything happen to me. I trust that you won't abuse the power you will have over me. I respect your position as my Master and hope you trust me to act accordingly. You should have enough respect for me to not let someone touch or harm me.

We have to be honest with one another about what we're comfortable with, the things we're willing to try, and the things that are absolutely off-limits. I need to know what you're willing to do to me and you need to know what I'm willing to let you do to me." She tried to explain

He just looked at her. Something told him this wasn't going to be just another job. Not for him. Not for her.

"We're going to have to practice." She suddenly stated

He choked on the beer he had just taken a sip from. She looked over at him with concern.

"Say what?" He questioned, blue eyes slightly wide at what she was implying

"So you can get comfortable in the role. Get used to what you'll have to do." Zoe calmly replied

The look on his face in his eyes were enough to make her want to giggle. He looked frightened, if the Hitter ever actually looked frightened that is, and she knew what was about to come was going to be quite interesting. She let him think about all she had told him while they finished their dinner. During the clean-up, she remained silent.


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: I'll have links to the outfits for Eliot and Zoe in my profile under "Hemorrhage Links" :) Enjoy.**

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Eliot wasn't sure about his. Taking control of an opponent or a fight was one thing. They were trying to attack him. Controlling another human being who wasn't attacking him was something completely different. He felt it was wrong. She explained the tone of voice he needed to use with her. Forceful but not demeaning. Commanding but not abusive.

They practiced some phrases for him to use as well as the tone. She was quite thankful he seemed to be picking this stuff up quickly! Once she was satisfied he had the voice tones down, she began teaching him how to order her around. He didn't look so confident, and she oddly thought it was cute, but she did her best to help him with that. She had told him what to do and to use the right tone. Which he did, albeit reluctantly, and watched as she did as he told her to.

He watched as she looked up at him from her knees on the floor. There was something in her eyes that he could not define. They went through several more little "exercises" before she went mix herself a cocktail. She brought a beer with her for him as she walked past him and to the couch. He frowned but followed her. This was the hard part. They needed to discuss what they were and were not willing to do and what they would do, or what was going to be allowed, at the club.

He cocked an eyebrow at her as she told him this. She explained about the lifestyle and going out in public. They needed to have their roles down. He still wasn't 100% confident but at least he was less frightened than before. They finally came down to what was allowed while on this con and what wasn't. He didn't want her getting dehydrated so he told her she would be able to drink either tea or water. She nodded at him, happy that he was thinking on his own about these things. She would never speak unless spoken to.

As they headed to bed for the night, Eliot still felt awkward about this con. He felt that it was wrong to do the things she was asking him to do. The irony of that hit him and he had to chuckle to himself. He still didn't like the idea of this but he kept telling himself that it would just be one night. Hardison and Parker would be stealing what they needed while he and Zoe paraded around like some sort of freak show.

A few days later, Eliot was scowling in his bedroom. He still wasn't wanting to do this but Zoe assured him this was the only way to get what they needed for their client. She also kept telling him they were the only two who could reasonably pull this off. Although he didn't want to admit to her, he knew she was right. Hardison would go over the top with it and Parker wouldn't understand why the Hacker was trying to make her behave his commands like a puppy.

He sighed once more as he dressed in what Zoe had left for him. Sophie had her own little costume too for her part in this weird charade. Nate would be in Lucille throughout the entire thing while Hardison and Parker worked together inside to get what they came for. The performance of the night, however, belonged to Eliot and Zoe. The redhead was sitting on her bed staring out the window. As confident as she sounded when talking to the rest of the team about this, she wondered if they could pull it off.

These people would be able to tell if she and Eliot weren't the real deal. More than anything, however, she hoped she would come out of this OK. She hadn't started getting ready yet as she stared out the window. Hell, she barely heard the knock at her door. Sophie, ever the motherly figure, quietly pushed the door open and peeked inside. She found Zoe sitting on her bed blankly staring out the window. The Grifter wondered what was wrong. Was she having second thoughts about this job? Was she worried about Eliot?

Even though Eliot was a hitter, he was a decent enough grifter. Decent enough to pull off the things he was asked to do. Sophie stepped inside the young woman's room and shut the door. There was still no reaction from Zoe. It wasn't until Sophie sat down on the bed next to her did Zoe acknowledge her presence.

"Is everything alright?" Sophie quietly questioned

"Oh. Yeah, just going over things in my head." Zoe replied with a quick, but fake, smile

"Worried about how things are going to go tonight?" Sophie asked

Zoe just shrugged her shoulders. There were things she was worried about alright but it didn't have to do with the team really.

"No need to worry. If things go bag, Nate always comes up with a back-up plan quickly. You should get dressed. You two have to leave soon." Sophie told her with a smile

Zoe nodded with a slight smile. Sophie quickly left to go make sure everyone else was ready. She was madly in love with Nate, despite how hard she tried not to be, but she had to admit their Hitter looked incredible for this con. It was definitely less formal than wearing a tux but still chic enough to not just be a ratty t-shirt and jeans. Eliot's outfit was perfect for him and Sophie wondered just how Zoe knew what to pick for him.

Eliot was talking with Nate, going over the plan one last time before things got going. Comms were going into ears and Parker was looking over the building schematics one last time. Zoe stood at the top of the stairs taking a few breaths. For a few minutes she debated on chickening out and leaving the team behind through her bedroom window. She had gotten used to these people and knew she'd feel bad if she let them down now. No one knew what her costume was going to look like but they weren't prepared for the woman who appeared at the bottom of the stairs. Zoe's outfit made Eliot stop mid-sentence and stare.

Nate looked to where Eliot's eyes were glued and grinned. Her tattoos were mostly air-brushed off but she did look good. With a gruff '_let's go'_, Eliot tore himself from staring at the newest member of their little group. Hardison made some comment that referenced some geek thing but Eliot didn't hear it. All he could do was will himself to the door of the condo and hope she was following. Parker was shocked to see the way Zoe was dressed and Sophie.

They made it to the club about two hours after it opened. Zoe took the comms out of her ear, motioning for Eliot to do the same. Once he had copied her movement, she reiterated the basics that she had taught him a few days ago. He took a deep breath and put his comms back in. Once she was ready, she slid out of his Dodge Charger, put her comms back in as well, and looked to him for guidance. He nodded for her to follow him. As he walked up to the front door of the building, she fell in right behind him.

The doorman looked between the pair as he took Eliot's money and gave the Hitter a blue wrist band. The bouncer reached out to put a red band on her wrist but before he could get to her, Eliot grabbed his wrist. Zoe watched the interaction, breath caught in her throat.

"I'm just putting a band on her. Not gonna hurt her." The guy cautiously stated

Eliot let him go so he could do his job. One thing was for sure, Eliot Spencer definitely took his job of protection very seriously! Having their bands, Eliot led the way into the building. His eyes darted around assessing the threat level and taking in what was going on. The scene was nothing new to her, but then again the team didn't know that, so she was more at ease in the environment. Eliot slowly and cautiously walked around to find them a table to sit at. He finally found one where he could see just about everything.

The table was just big enough for two people but there was a huge round pillow on the floor next to one of the chairs. He sat down and thought she would sit in the other chair. It took him slightly off guard when she kneeled on the pillow then sat back on her legs.

"What do we do now?" Eliot muttered under his breath to Zoe

"Now we wait for the waitress to come over. Then we wait for the owner. They like to mingle with their guests, especially if they're new faces." Zoe replied, voice barely a whisper to anyone watching

Eliot was still uncomfortable but he wasn't showing it on the outside. Sure enough about 5 minutes later a cute little blonde waitress wandered to where Eliot was sitting and asked him what he wanted to drink. He told her favorite beer and, looking down at the redhead sitting beside him, asked for a cup of Chamomile Peppermint tea with two sugars. The blonde whose name was Tammy nodded and headed to off to get their drinks.

"How's it going, Eliot?" Nate asked over the comms

"Just put in our drink order. Parker?" Eliot replied

"Scaling down the building now. Will be inside in a few minutes." She replied, voice filled with cheer

Tammy returned with his beer and Zoe's tea. She set the tea cup on the table next to his beer. Zoe stared straight ahead awaiting a command from her master. She knew there were eyes upon them. Every Master-Slave relationship was different. What was allowed was between Eliot and Zoe but she knew there would be grief from other Masters in the club. Zoe watched out of the corner of her eye as Eliot gently blew on her steaming tea before lowering the cup for her to take a sip. She was happy he remembered her favorite tea.

She turned to look straight ahead once more. A few minutes later a tall, raven-headed man stopped in front of their table. She could tell there might be trouble and tensed.

"Why do you let her drink in public?" The voice questioned

"Because I don't want her to get dehydrated while we're out. If it were any of your business." Eliot quickly retorted

"It's bad form." The other guy countered

"I think its bad form to let her dehydrate. What I allow her to do is not your concern." Eliot stated, voice slightly gruffer than usual, as he gently ran his fingers through her fiery red hair

The guy just gave Eliot a _'Humph'_ as he stalked off, clearly not agreeing, making Eliot smirk slightly. No one else bothered them while Eliot sat there nursing his beer. Every few minutes he would lean the tea cup down for her to take a drink. He watched as she always went back to staring straight ahead. Thoughts began circulating in his head about just how she knew so much about this lifestyle. How _**did**_ she know how to behave in this place?

Half an hour went by. Another beer had been drunk, and her cup of tea had finally been finished. A woman in her mid-forties, blonde hair with streaks of gray around the edges, and a simple suit came strolling through the club from the back. Zoe whispered that she was the owner. They heard Parker telling them that she was in the woman's office. Hardison had begun his hacking thing and the Thief was working on her safe. Eliot and Zoe were the only two in the bar that she didn't recognize. She stopped at their table and just looked at the pair.

"Hello. I don't believe I've seen you in here before." She stated with a warm, friendly smile

"It's because this is our first time." Eliot replied, keeping his voice calm and even

"I'm Amanda. Amanda Gavin. I own this establishment." The woman stated

"Hello, Amanda. I'm Eric Shaw." He replied, sticking his hand out for her to take

They shook hands over the table as Amanda looked between him and Zoe.

"Why is this your first time here?" Amanda asked curiously

"I'm just in town for business." He replied

"Oh. Does she belong to you or is she a pick-up?" Amanda inquired

"She's mine." Eliot stated as he began to run his fingers through Zoe's hair once more, "I take her everywhere with me."

"What business are you in town for?" Amanda questioned

"Real estate. I buy properties, fix them up, and then sell them for a huge profit. Sometimes I keep the properties and turn it into something great." He explained

"Oh interesting." Amanda stated, clearly not really impressed

"Nate, got everything." Parker stated over the comms

"Me too." Hardison added in

"There's a big auction tomorrow about some building downtown that I'm hoping to win." Eliot, as Eric, divulged

Amanda's eyes went wide.

"You're one of them trying to building the Spitzer building?!" Amanda exclaimed

With a dry chuckle Eliot replied, "Yes Ma'am. It's a great location for a new club I'm thinking about building up."

Her body language and eyes told Eliot he had sparked her interest. They talked more about the building, with Hardison recording everything the woman said over the comms, as Amanda gave him a history lesson on it. He knew she wanted to know what he wanted the building for. That soon turned to the topic of conversation. Zoe sat as still as a statue, never flinching, never moving a muscle, never making a sound. Eliot wasn't worried about her as he talked, as he baited, with Amanda.

The half-drunk guy approaching their table had Eliot's attention. His brown eyes were trained on Zoe as she kneeled by her Master's side. She watched the man come to a stop in front of her. Still, she never moved. Eliot was less than a foot from her on her left side. She knew, above all else, Eliot was keeping an eye on him too. She trusted him to not let anyone hurt her. When the unknown, half-drunk guy grabbed the O-ring on her collar and jerked her upwards, Eliot was immediately on his feet.

"Let her go. **NOW**." Eliot demanded, voice bordering on menacing

"She's a pretty little thing." The guy stated, licking the side of her face, "How much?"

"She's not for sale. I said let her go." Eliot repeated

"Make me…. _Boy_." The guy taunted

Eliot turned to Amanda and excused himself. She exited her seat and moved towards the bar several feet away. You never touched another's slave or submissive without their consent. She was curious to see what Eric was going to about it. Zoe's feet were barely touching the ground but she dared not fight him. It would blow their aliases.

"Set her down." Eliot stated

The guy, who figured he could take the much smaller man, dropped Zoe to the ground like a hot potato. Amanda watched as the redhead scrambled to get back to the pillow and back into her position. The blonde woman was quite impressed with how well she behaved. The big guy thought he could hit Eliot once or twice and be done. He swung once at the smaller man who not only caught his fist but wound up hitting him with his left hand then his right elbow. The shock and double hit made the taller man stumble backwards. Amanda said something to him before two bouncers arrived to escort him out.

Amanda moved back to where Eliot had sat back down and apologized for the drunken guy. She told Eric that she was interested in the club he was wanting to create should he win the auction of the building. Eric gave her his business card so she could contact him after the auction. Amanda was more than happy to take it in hopes of getting in on a ground-breaking BdSm-Fetish style club. She left Eliot alone to attend to the rest of her club.

Eliot threw down money for his and Zoe's drinks before looking down at her. She was back in the sitting position she'd been in before the little scuffle. He moved to stand in front of her and ordered her to look up at him. She immediately did as he requested. Her bright green eyes meeting his sharp blue ones. There was something in that moment, the moment of utter trust and respect, that made his breath hitch. He told her to stand up and watched as she obeyed. His next command was for her to follow them after Nate told everyone to get out as quickly as possible over the comms.


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: A link to Zoe's outfit is in my profile :) Enjoy**

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Everyone was silent on the way back to their headquarters. Hardison had to get the auction fixed so that Eric Shaw would win it for the rest of the con. Sophie was a bit freaked out at how silent Zoe had been throughout the evening and just how calm Eliot had been. Even during the little confrontations they'd found themselves in. Nate was just glad that the first part of the con had gone smoothly. Hardison was already working how to fix the auction in his head. Parker was leaning back against the wall of the van already asleep.

They reached the Micro-Brewery and parked. Everyone piled out and headed inside. Zoe walked slower than the rest. Something had changed with that look. She wasn't sure what but she knew that it had. Zoe was the last to enter the living room above the Gastro-Pub. Hardison was sitting in his usual space typing away on his computer. Nate and Parker were sitting at the dining room table going over the things she and Hardison had stolen. Sophie was sitting at the bar chatting quietly but pleasantly with Eliot who was making something in the kitchen.

With a quiet sigh, she slowly backed out of the living room and headed back down to the Gastro-Pub. She sat down at the bar, since they were still open, and ordered herself a shot of Vodka. The tall, slender bartender was quick to pour the shot for her. She downed it quickly then motioned for another. After her fourth shot, she finally ordered a Rum and Coke. She was swigging it when Sophie came downstairs. The Grifter looked around the bar until her eyes landed on Zoe.

She took a seat where she could see the redhead and watch her. Zoe's shoulders were slumped forward like she had the weight of the world on them. Her head was down as if she were deep in her own thoughts. Her left foot was tapping the rail on the bottom of the stool she was sitting on. Something was bothering the woman. Sophie didn't quite know how to approach her about it, especially after the evening they'd just had. The con was continuing tomorrow for the auction and Zoe had to reprise her role of this submissive person.

In their time working together, Sophie knew Zoe wouldn't just let anyone dominate her like that. It really had to be messing with her head. Having Eliot be her dominator added another level of stress to the girl as well. What did Zoe say that one day? That she had the experience. The sentence had bothered Sophie from the moment Zoe had spoken it but she had gotten caught up in planning the con to dwell on it. Sophie watched as she finished off her drink then had another few shots. After her last shot, roughly 45 minutes later, Zoe stood up and slowly made her way back upstairs.

Sophie was quick to follow but stayed far enough behind her that Zoe didn't realize she was there. Parker and Hardison were sitting on the couch watching a movie. Nate was still sitting where he had been when she left the condo. Eliot had apparently headed off to his room. Zoe unceremoniously walked through the condo and upstairs. Nate watched her as she slightly stumbled and he knew she'd been drinking. It was unusual to see the girl drinking much less to the point of stumbling as she walked.

Sophie headed to the room she was sharing after giving Nate a look that said [i]'follow me'[/i]. He did as she wanted and quickly shut the door. The day had been stressful for all, as their cons usually were, but more so for Eliot and Zoe. She sat down on the bed to take off her shoes.

"What's on your mind?" Nate quietly questioned

"Zoe was down in the bar drinking alone. You saw her stumbling. She was drunk. Can you remember when she's drank so much to actually be drunk?" Sophie stated, looking over to where Nate stood

"I can't, no. But tonight was quite stressful." Nate replied, coolly

_'Of course he wouldn't find anything wrong with using alcohol to drown your issues!'_ Sophie thought bitterly

"Nate, what if there's something wrong?" She asked

"Sophie, she's a big girl. She took down Eliot, remember. I'm sure she's fine. Let's get some rest. Tomorrow is going to be a long day." Nate offered as he began to strip himself for bed

After Eliot cleaned up from the quick snack he'd concocted for everyone, he immediately headed to his room. Hardison had put on a movie for him and Parker. They were sitting together on the couch watching the beginning of it. Nate was sitting at the table going over the papers that were scattered in front of him and Sophie had headed downstairs for some reason. He wanted to make sure everyone was alright but he wasn't sure if he was even OK.

He was calm and collected through the night at the freaky club. He was even calmer during the little altercations. Zoe hadn't gotten hurt, that he could tell since she seemed to have disappeared, and they had gotten the documents that they needed. Although it was a successful night, he was still feeling awkward. He'd done some unspeakable things to other people but tonight, and whatever tomorrow would bring, was something he'd never dealt with before.

Controlling Zoe was weird enough. Then the look that passed between them before they finally left that weird club. The look in her spectacular green eyes. The feeling that over-came him. He sighed, shook his head, and then stripped down for bed. It didn't take him long to slip into his bed but he knew he wouldn't be going to sleep any time soon. After an hour of tossing and turning, he heard Sophie's footsteps leading to their bedroom. Nate quickly followed. With a heavy sigh, he reached into his nightstand drawer and took out the book he had started reading a few days ago.

As soon as Zoe had made it to the sanctuary of her bedroom, she stripped out of her outfit and let it fall to the floor. She fell onto her bed face first trying to calm her racing mind down. She knew as soon as she'd suggested it that this was going to be a bad idea. No matter if it was for their clients and the greater good. She had remained calm throughout the club. She had remained calm even after being jerked up by her collar and off her feet. Zoe knew Eliot wouldn't let that creep touch her or harm her in any way.

She knew, consciously, that she was never in any real danger. If worse came to worse, then she would break her cover and be "reprimanded" by her "Master" later. She was certain Eliot wouldn't have let things go that far. She was doing alright until after the near-physical altercation. She was back on the pillow, on her knees, sitting on her legs and looking up at him. Looking up into those magnificent aqua blue eyes. There was something there. Something that changed between them.

_Her right eye was swollen shut, both eyes were black, her bottom lip had split open and she was chained to a wall by the itchy collar around her neck. There were nasty bruises around her neck where the collar was at from all her thrashing around to free herself. He told her she was a slow learner and that's why she was in this predicament. He told her, with the coldest voice she'd ever heard, that until she learned to obey his orders she wouldn't leave the room and would only be given bread and water._

_Her mind drifted back to a previous conversation where he told her he liked her feistiness. He liked that she fought back and bucked the system so to speak. Wanting her to obey his commands was the complete opposite of that and it confused her. Every day she was belittled and talked down to as she was trained to obey._

_Months had passed. When she was finally ready, he put her in a bright gold bikini and leather collar. He led her into the massive room on the leash. She kept her eyes down, not daring to look at anyone's face, as he led the way. He sat down at a huge leather chair in the front of the room and she came to a stand next to it. He told her to sit. Immediately she kneeled, then sat back on her legs with her head staring straight ahead but her eyes trained on the floor._

_He had broken her. Forced her into submission. Taught her how to behave the way he wanted her to behave. That was the beginning. The very beginning of the end for her._

She sat up with a start. Tears were streaking down her face, heart racing, body shaking as if she were cold but the sweat dripping down her face told her she wasn't. Her eyes darted wildly around the room surveying her surroundings. She was in her room in the condo she was sharing with her team. Lightning striking nearby made her nearly jump out of her bed. Tears blurred her vision but she slid into a pair of compression shorts and tank and headed downstairs.

Her head was pounding and it wasn't all from the nightmare she'd had. She didn't usually drink as much as she had that night. When her shadow passed his room, Eliot thought about heading downstairs with her. There were plenty of nights they shared over cups of tea in the wee hours of the morning. As he was debating whether or not he wanted to join her downstairs, he heard a sniffling sound and the shadow of her passing his room. She never cried.

The next morning Eliot was in the kitchen preparing breakfast wanting everyone to have a good start to the day. He had a pot of coffee going for Nate and Sophie and some fresh OJ for everyone else. The sausage had cooked, the biscuits were nearly done, and the omelets were slowly cooking. He was talented enough to be able to make custom omelets for each of them which he hoped they liked.

Nate was the first one downstairs, after Eliot of course, and was happy to see the freshly made coffee. After sitting down at the kitchen table with the morning paper, he nearly forgot they had to finish up their con today. Slowly, one-by-one, the rest of the team came downstairs. As Eliot was placing omelets on the right plate, Zoe made her way downstairs. He looked up in time to see her approaching the table wearing a very nice Conservative Office outfit which was also accompanied by the leather and fur collar she'd worn the previous evening.

She sat down at her spot and took a sip of her OJ. Eliot noted she wouldn't look him in the eye as he slid her omelet onto her plate. Once he had a seat himself, he finally noticed everyone was chatting about one thing or another. Everyone except her. It concerned him but he wasn't in the position to talk to her about it just yet. Sophie had noticed how quiet Zoe was but wasn't going to say anything. Not yet at least. Besides, they still needed to finish the con today.

Eliot cleaned up from breakfast while Hardison finished up rigging the auction. Nate was going over the plan one last time while Sophie and Parker were making sure everything else was in place. After breakfast Zoe headed straight back up to her room. She was sitting by the window staring outside when Sophie came to tell her that Eliot was just about ready to leave for the auction. She merely nodded before getting up and heading downstairs. _'Like a ghost'_ Sophie thought to herself as she followed the redhead to the rest of their crew.


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: I'm sorry if some of the previous material has made some of you uncomfortable. It will help the relationship between Eliot and Zoe in the end, I promise. More angsty stuff to come and a little P/H fluff too ;) Otherwise enjoy!**

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Eliot was dressed in a dark pair of denim jeans, red button down shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, a white vest and shoes to match the outfit. His hair was pulled back into a tight pony-tail. Eliot was standing by the front door when she unceremoniously made her way off the stairs. Nate watched her as she fell in behind Eliot as they walked to the Mercedes-Benz Hardison had rented for them for this part of the con.

Not a word was spoken between them as they made their way to the car. He slid into the driver's seat and she into the back seat on the passenger's side. He could see her through the rear-view mirror and kept a silent watch over her as they made their way to the auction site. She stared out the window watching the scenery go by. Since they arrived back at their headquarters the previous night, she hadn't said a word to anyone. She wasn't sure what to say to them and their job wasn't even over yet!

He parked the car and climbed out. She waited for him to allow her out of the vehicle. Just like she had done so long ago. This time, however, she knew her Master wasn't going to leave her in a locked and very hot car for hours on end. She slid out of the backseat as soon as he'd opened the door. She followed closely behind him, eyes trained on his back, and not saying a word as they walked into the building for the auction.

Everyone had their comms in and were awaiting the auction to start. Eliot scanned the crowd, as he usually did, but didn't see Amanda anywhere. Eliot knew he was going to win the auction. Hardison had told him so. The other members of the team were awaiting the final phase of the con so they couldn't be seen in or near the building. Hardison and Nate were sitting in Lucille watching the auction after the Hacker tapped into the building's security feed. Sophie and Parker were setting up the offices that would be the undoing of Amanda.

"Good morning!" Everyone heard Amanda exclaim as she came to a stop next to Eliot

"Amanda, it's nice to see you again." Eliot, as Eric stated after plastering on a fake warm smile

"I wasn't expecting to see your pet here. You literally take her everywhere with you?" Amanda stated, glancing over to Zoe

Eliot in character looked over to the redhead with an affectionate look before replying, "Everywhere I go, she goes. Business trips, business meetings, building inspections, everywhere."

"I see. So should you win the auction, what kind of club are you thinking of making it into?" Amanda questioned as the rest of the people for the auction slowly arrived

Eliot chuckled. She was certainly not as discreetly getting information than Sophie was.

"I think you have a good idea of what I'm interested in. Part Fetish club, part BdSm club, part something else. It will be amazing." Eliot stated, looking around at his "competition"

"Well here's hoping you win then." Amanda laughed softly

The auctioneer arrived signaling things would be getting underway in about half an hour. A waitress came around offering flutes of champagne which Eliot took. He asked the waitress for some water. The girl must've gotten lost because she never returned with the water he asked for. Zoe stood perfectly still, slightly to the right but behind Eliot. The auctioneer got the auction underway by giving a bit of the history of the building, then the history of the area, and a bit about the previous owner.

"Nate, the offices are ready." Sophie told them over the comms

'Eric' listened intently to the auctioneer and waited for everyone else to place their bids. It was sort of a silent auction but Hardison has fixed it where they had to write their bids down. Whoever had the highest bid won. No one could see anyone else's bids except for the camera that had been planted by the Hacker. Once Eliot was ready, Hardison gave him the magic number to use. The auctioneer would look over each bid and then announce the winner. Over an hour later and it was announced that Eric Shaw had won the auction and was the new owner of the Spitzer building.

Amanda was quite excited for him as he took all the information he needed to gain control of the building. He gave the right information, fed to him by Hardison, for the payment. As everyone made their way out of the building, Amanda stated that she wanted to talk to him about his club and showed interest in "getting in on the ground floor" so to speak. Eliot conveyed his apprehension about it but after a minute of thought said she could follow him to his meeting with the man who was going to help him get the club up and running.

The blond woman was quick to agree as she walked side-by-side with Eliot. She nodded appreciatively at his choice of vehicle. Amanda watched as he opened the backseat door for Zoe and how the girl quickly slid into the seat. Eliot shut the door and looked over to their mark. Amanda promised she'd follow him to this meeting before leaving to get to her own car. About 20 minutes later and they pulled up to the undiscerning building in the middle of downtown.

Zoe followed quietly behind Eliot as they made their way into the building and to the elevators. In just a few minutes the trio made it to the right office. Parker was sitting at the front desk typing away when they walked in. 'Eric' didn't bother saying anything to her as he marched straight into the right office.

"Eric! How did it go?" The curly headed brunette stated from behind his desk

"Bradley, it went as we had expected." 'Eric' explained, "This is Amanda. She owns a BdSm club downtown and wants in on the ground floor of our club."

"I have enough investors, we don't need her." 'Bradley' exclaimed taking Amanda back

"I have money squirreled away. How much do you need?" Amanda stated

"Nate, the information has been planted." Parker stated over the comms

"The very least from each investor is 1 million." 'Bradley' answered

"I can get that." Amanda replied

"Bradley, this has been an exciting morning. Let me buy you lunch." 'Eric' said

"Hmm, that is a nice proposition. We can continue to discuss business over lunch. Especially if you're paying!" 'Bradley' grinned

Amanda had all but forgotten about the woman who traveled everywhere with Eric. Since there was more than enough room in his car, Eliot suggested he drive. 'Bradley' suggested the restaurant to go to. The two men sat in the front while Amanda and Zoe sat in the back. Amanda made the mistake of trying to slide in where Zoe usually sat. 'Eric' was quick to ask her to move since that was _her_ space. The depth of this particular con was becoming more and more evident to Nate as they were seated at the restaurant.

Eliot ordered her drink as he ordered his own. Nate watched, with curiosity, as the Hitter ordered her lunch as well. Had they planned this? If they hadn't was Zoe going to be mad about it? Looking over at the young woman, he realized that she was sitting at the table with her palms sitting on the table by the edge and was staring at her plate. She was perfectly still and absolutely quiet. _"I have experience"_ started playing in his head.

The interaction between Eric and his sub was nothing new to her. She'd seen it all. What she was really after was getting in on this fabulous club. She was certain that she could worm her way, and probably con Eric, into owning more and more of it since he wasn't even from the city. Nate was watching her mannerism as they spoke. His button cam showed Sophie what she needed to guide Nate and Eliot in dealing with her.

Zoe didn't eat or drink until Eliot told her to. She sat there in absolute stillness listening to everything around her. As she was sitting there listening to Nate and Eliot dealing with Amanda, she was very thankful that Eliot was allowing her to eat in public. He chose a lunch for her that he knew she would like. How he knew, she didn't know. Nate had her transferring the 1 million dollars into a set-up account by the time they were nearly done. Hardison had been busy working on his end of the con which would propel Amanda into the eyes of the public and into custody.

"So, can I ask her a question?" Amanda asked, looking over at Eliot

Eliot silently nodded.

"So, do you really enjoy being his sub?" The middle aged blonde questioned

"Go ahead, you can answer her questions." Eliot stated, remember what Zoe told him about not answering until given permission to

"Absolutely, Miss." Zoe quietly replied

"Would you ever consider working for me? I could use experienced subs like you." Amanda stated

"No, Miss." Zoe said

"Even if I paid you?" Amanda pressed

"She's not for sale. Like I told the guy last night. She belongs to me and that's final." Eliot stated, voice more forceful than what was necessary

"No, Miss." Zoe stated, eyes never leaving her empty plate

"She is incredibly well trained. I understand exactly why you don't want to let her go." Amanda said, voice soft and cool

Eliot smiled at her as he dug his credit card out of his wallet to pay for their business lunch. Nate walked next to Amanda back to Eliot's rental as the Hitter was walking slightly behind them. Zoe walked behind Eliot and waited for him to open her door. She slid in to her seat and waited. Eliot told the redhead to stay in her seat when they reached 'Bradley's' "office" to drop him and Amanda off. Pleasantries were made before 'Bradley' told Amanda he'd call when her funds came through. She excitedly left the two men in the parking lot to head back to her own club.

Once Amanda was out of earshot, Nate told Hardison to 'finish it up'. Hardison's reply of "age of the geek, baby" signaled that he had done his part. Nate ordered everyone back to their headquarters. Eliot offered Nate a ride since the rest of their team were about a mile from their location. The ride back was spent in silence. The Mastermind was thinking back to Sophie's concerns about her drinking last night and everything he'd witnessed today. It was just for the con, right? Had things somehow gone too far and no one but Zoe knew it?!

They were the first three to make it back. Zoe headed straight up to the roof. She had concocted her own little space up there for quiet reflection. Eliot had his work-out equipment. Parker had some zip lines. She had a corner to just sit, reflect, think, and stare out into the city. She had been sitting for who knows how long when she heard someone approaching her from behind. She knew it was Eliot but opted to not say anything. He sat down quietly beside her and just stared out into the city as well. Finally he turned to her.

"You nailed the mark. You did great in the con." He quietly stated

She merely nodded.

"Are you ok?" He asked

The question took her off guard. She turned to look at him and found him staring intently at her.

"I'm fine. Didn't even get into a fight." She dryly replied

"I know you were crying late last night. Had a nightmare too which prompted you to head downstairs to make tea. That tells me you're not fine." He sated, voice even lower than before

It was almost as if he were afraid of someone over-hearing their conversation.

"I promise I'm fine." She reiterated

"Then why won't you look at any of us?" He questioned

She huffed and turned her attention back to the view. Having dealt with Nate and Parker for the last 5 years, he knew when to give someone a few minutes to collect their thoughts and to wait for their answer. Her mind was racing. She wasn't weak! She could still do her job. Whatever changed between them, however, was what she was worried about. She took the opportunity to sneak a peek at the brunette sitting beside her. He looked very calm as he just looked out over the city.

"I'm sorry." She suddenly stated

The statement took him off guard.

"Sorry for what?" He asked, confused slightly

"Sorry for putting you in that position. I know it was hard." She quietly replied

"Darlin', we've all done some weird stuff for cons before." Eliot tried to just shake off what she could be implying

"But the rest of them aren't us. They haven't done or seen the things we have. I'm sorry for putting you in that position." She explained, turning her eyes away from him

"Why were you crying last night?" He inquired suddenly

"Nightmare, that's all." She quickly replied, tension rapidly returning to her body

He let the conversation taper off. She would talk when she was ready and he was sure he'd pushed a little too much already. Eliot finally stood up and motioned for her to follow him. With a deep breath, she stood up too. Thinking about the last two days, he opted to follow her down the stairs and into the condo. Sophie, Parker, and Hardison had arrived back at the condo as well.


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: Links to their outfits are in my profile. Not as fluffy as I'd like but I hope it was good ;) Enjoy!**

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Sophie convinced Nate to give everyone a week or so off after the job they just completed. Hardison had set everything in motion, their client was about to be paid and get her reputation back, and no one had gotten hurt. The Mastermind thought taking a few days off would be a great idea. Zoe had already started thinking of where she wanted to go on her few week off. Sophie had begun talking to Nate about the places she wanted to go shopping.

Zoe headed to her room to start packing. She was still debating exactly _where_ to go although she knew what kind of environment she wanted to be _in_. The Bahamas. Yes, that would be a great place to go for a week to unwind, let her hair down, and not worry about anything. She wouldn't have to worry about anything but catching some rays, catching some waves, and a good bottle or two of Tequila.

Sitting on the edge of her bed, she used her smart phone, and was very thankful she had the uber-Geek to get the good toys, to get her plane ticket and make reservations at the nicest resort there. Satisfied she had all she needed she knew she would have to change clothes and stay out of the view of cameras. Knowing Hardison he would try to figure out where she was going! She brought one medium sized bag downstairs which surprised Parker. Zoe shrugged and said she was going to make the most of her vacation time.

Hardison chuckled and asked if she needed him to get her a ticket. She respectfully told him no that she would take care of her reservations. Zoe also knew that she would have to change clothes somewhere at the airport so they would have an even harder time tracking her. It's not that she really didn't like these 5 crazy people. She'd been with them a year and a half already. This job had really messed with her head and she needed to physically and emotionally separate herself from them for at least a few days.

Eliot wondered where she was heading off to. He knew Sophie and Nate would be alright together. They were smart enough to get out of any slightly sticky mess they could find themselves in. Hardison and Parker would probably spend their time jumping off things. Eliot himself had thought about where he wanted to go for the week off. Italy had come to mind as well as France for the amazing food. He also knew that Zoe would be able to take care of herself because, like the rest of them, she had been taking care of herself with no problems for a long time.

It wasn't her physical well-being he was concerned with though. This last job had really gotten to her. Even through all their late-night meetings after nightmares, he'd never seen her cry. She might cry alone in her room from time to time but she had never walked down the hall still crying. She knew he kept his door slightly ajar to keep an eye on things late at night and knew how little he actually slept. If she didn't care that he heard her, or was so wrapped up in her nightmare and thoughts then that concerned him. They had told Nate and Sophie right after they'd found out the pair were sleeping together that they were all responsible for each other's emotional well-being.

She bid the group a happy goodbye telling them she'd see them all in a week. Sophie headed upstairs to start packing for their trip. She and Nate would be leaving the following morning for Paris. That was a fabulous place to shop, according to Sophie. Parker was going on and on about what buildings she and Hardison could rappel off of. Eliot leaned over and asked Hardison to show him how to track people by their phones. The Hacker was so shocked by the fact that Eliot wanted him to teach him some tech stuff that he didn't stop to think about _why_ he wanted to know.

A cab was waiting for Zoe when she exited the Gastro-Pub. She was silent during the ride to the airport, which she was thankful only took about 20 minutes, and was quick to pay the cabbie. Grabbing her bag, she exited the cab and slowly made her way into the airport. She dipped into the first bathroom she came to and quickly changed into her outfit for the trip and first day there. Staying out of the view of the cameras and staying in the shadows would ensure they couldn't find her on cameras.

She was sitting on the plane waiting to take off. The flight would take 6 hours and 27 minutes to get there. It would be early evening in Atlantis when she arrived. Sitting back in the comfortable leather chair of first class, she turned her attention to the in-flight movie and waited for the stewardess to come by with drinks. After Eliot heard Sophie talking about Paris, he decided he did not want to go there. Parker was still talking of rappelling down buildings in New York. Thinking to himself, Eliot finally decided on going to Nashville.

The scenery was beautiful, the food was good, and he knew he probably wouldn't be bothered. He packed quickly after asking Hardison to get him a flight out that day. He could listen to some good music and just relax. Wasn't that the whole point of this little vacation? To relax, recoup, decompress if it will. His flight would take just a hair over 6 hours. He'd be there in time for dinner.

He was staying in one of the nicest hotels in the city. The flight wasn't as long as he thought so he checked in to his room first. He dropped his bag, grabbed his room key, and then headed out to find some good 'ol fashioned bar-b-que. It had been way to long since he'd had any good southern cooking. With a belly full, he opted to find a local bar to listen to some good music and have a beer or two. Nothing like relaxing.

Eliot spent a day and a half in Nashville trying to keep himself occupied. There were plenty of bands to listen to, plenty of food to indulge in. Yet here he was sitting in a bar, nursing a beer, and thinking of her. Absent-mindedly he took his phone out of his pocket and started twirling it around on the bar in front of him. His intentions were to spend his entire week here but as quickly as his mind brought the thought to him, he started making plans to fly out to where she was.

Parker was as giddy as school-girl. Or as giddy as a normal school-girl, that is. There was nothing on Earth the blond thief loved more than rappelling off of buildings. Hardison was shaking his head at his girl. How he had let her convince him to come with her to Australia to jump off the Sydney Opera House, St. Mary's Cathedral in Sydney, and the Eureka Tower in Melbourne? She was checking her harnesses making sure they would be ok.

"Mama, this is crazy!" He exclaimed, hoping she'd change her mind

"Don't be a wuss! I've got your back." She immediately retorted

Only Parker would not see anything wrong with this. Hardison liked keeping his feet on the ground. Literally. With a sigh as she tugged on his harness, he figured it was only fair. She agreed to go to a MMORPG convention and Star Trek movie marathon with him. He agreed to go rappelling with her. With a deep breath, he followed her to the edge of the building. He followed her as she leaned forward in a free fall. Her delighted screams and the angelic, joyous look on her face was all he needed. This was the right move.

Neither were very good cooks so they ate at some of the best restaurants in whatever city they were in. He wanted to just be tourists. See the sights, get some photos, and enjoy one another's company without worrying about a con or the team. She was just happy she could scale and rappel off building with not worries at all. Of course she liked spending time with Hardison out of the office. They were sharing their interests. This was a good step for them both.

Sophie was excited Nate had agreed to take her shopping in Paris again. She did a little grifting as well but not enough to get noticed. Nate, despite what people might assume about him, liked to see the architecture, see the museums and art. Just to see, not take. He did like the finer things in life even if he didn't indulge often. Besides, he had Sophie with him. It would take quite a lot to keep up with her!

Besides shopping, Sophie was quite excited to get to spend some alone time with Nate. They didn't have to bother with a con, planning a con, worry about the execution of a con. They didn't have to worry about one of the "kids" walking into the condo and catching them in the act. Or over hearing them in the act. Or interrupting the act. _That_ annoyed her greatly but she tried her best to hide it when it did.

Zoe had been in the Bahamas, in Atlantis, nearly two days. It was 2 days of no phone calls, emails (as if she actually had anyone emailing her), annoying teammates bothering her, worry about the con going sideways. She had 2 days of quiet, of blue skies, even bluer waters, good food, white sandy beach, and delicious alcohol. However, she also had two days of no one talking to her, no one bugging her, no one keeping her from drowning inside her own head. She both liked the solitude and hated it. She'd never hated solitude before!

She was laying on a lounge chair under a small umbrella sipping on a little girly fruity drink. There were eyes on her, she could feel them, but that was nothing new out here. It wasn't quite the tourist season and there weren't too many guests at the resort. So feeling someone looking at her wasn't anything she wasn't used to. There wasn't a threat to her, she would feel it if there was, so she just stayed laying back and enjoying the warm sun on her skin. Eliot had tracked her whereabouts and checked himself into the same hotel she was staying at.

He set his bag down and stripped out of his normal clothes. He slipped into a pair of swim trunks (which had a pocket on the left side on the leg) and a white ribbed tank. It didn't take him long to locate her even though she she had left her phone in her room. She was maybe 10 minutes from the hotel and lounging half way between the vendors that were outside the hotel and the water.

He noted that she didn't seem out of place. She wasn't drawing attention to herself. All she seemed to be doing was laying on a lounger soaking up the sun, the slight breeze, and the surf. He sat down on a stool at a bar about 30 feet from where she was lounging and just watched her. There was a book she was reading but he couldn't tell what it was from that distance. She was slowly sipping what looked to be a strawberry Daiquiri as she leisurely read her book. Her skin was bronzed slightly but the brown bikini looked great on her from what he could tell.

A little more than an hour later, he took his beer and cautiously walked over and sat down in the lounger to her left. He didn't say a word as he adjusted his lounger and moved the umbrella that came with it. He quietly set his beer on the shared table between their seats so he wouldn't disturb her.

"What are you doing here, Eliot?" She questioned softly, eyes not leaving her book

He was astonished!

"How did you know it was me?" He questioned, humor and awe tinting his voice

"You have a very distinct sit." She merely replied

Her words weren't lost on him. He'd said something similar to the team lots of times. It was quite funny for her to use those words on him. Was that the point?

"Beautiful here, isn't it?" He stated calmly

"You didn't answer my question." She said

He watched her put the bookmark in the book then set it gently on her lap. He had her full attention. Or she had his.


	18. Chapter 18

**A/N: Link to the outfit she wore on the trip back to Portland is in my profile :) Enjoy.**

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"I thought the point of a vacation was to get away from you people for a little while?" She asked, trying to keep the annoyance and joy out of her voice

"It usually is but we never really finished that conversation about what experience you had for our last job." Eliot replied, nonchalantly

"We didn't have a conversation about that. You wanted to know how I was doing. Which I told you, by the way. I just want to sit here and enjoy myself without thinking about any of you." She stated, irritation tinging her voice

"Too damn bad. Obviously there was something about that whole thing that's messing with your head. What is it?" He asked accusingly

He watched as she turned back towards the ocean. This was not a conversation she wanted to have while on vacation. This was not a conversation she wanted to have at all. He was prying into her life and she didn't like it. People prying never ended well for her. Or usually them. As he sat there watching her, he could see the turmoil just under the skin.

"Zoe?" She heard his voice ask, soft and tinted with concern

"Look Eliot. I've come to…. Like… you guys. Whatever happened to me before we smacked into one another is inconsequential." She stated

He didn't respond so she went back to looking out to the water. Of everyone on the team, he knew better than anyone what she meant. True, he didn't know the minute details of her past but he knew well enough the signs of her having done things she's not too proud of. There have been things done to her which she doesn't want to speak of. He took a deep breath knowing he was opening up a whole can of worms.

"After my military service, I basically became a contract killer for one of the most evil men that have ever lived." Eliot quietly confessed

She whipped her head around to look at her male counter-part. She had guessed something to that effect, especially with the way he talked and held himself sometimes, but to hear it. To hear him admit it out of his own mouth! He swallowed a chuckle at her expression. Just like her, he tried very hard to keep his past from the team.

"All I want is to enjoy my vacation. No work, no team, no thinking about my past. Is that too hard to ask?" She stated, voice ending with a little more harshness than she had really intended

He sighed, "I'll make a deal with you. I won't bring this up the rest of our vacation. After that, you'll sit down with me and tell me what I want to know."

"Why the hell do you want to know this shit so badly?!" She exclaimed

"It's my job to protect the team. I need to know things about everyone. After we took down the guy I used to work for….." He took a deep breath, "… I just need to know. Like I said, we're all responsible for everyone's emotional needs."

She didn't respond to him. Only looked out into the blue water and sipped her drink. Even after how long she'd been with the team, and numerously demonstrating her protective skills, he still found himself to be the protector of everyone. Including her. She really didn't know what to say to that. She'd been taking care of herself for a long time. It was an odd thought to think that there was someone else out there looking out for her.

They remained quiet as she thought about her place on the team, their last job, this vacation, and why exactly Eliot had showed up when she thought she had made it clear she wanted to be alone. If she didn't, wouldn't she have asked them to come along? Before she realized it, she was opening her mouth.

"Do you know why I chose here to vacation?" She questioned, turning to look at him

He shook his head no and remained silent.

"It's quiet and secluded. With enough cash the staff will pretty much do whatever you want. If I don't want to be bothered, generally I'm not bothered. No looking over my shoulder, no wondering if someone is poisoning my food. I can relax and sort of let my guard down. Not completely because that's impossible for me these days.

I came here to get away from all of you. To leave work behind. To not have to think about anything but when I want to eat, what drink I want next, and which water sport I might want to partake in. I like the lot of you. I really do. But seeing you makes me think of things I really don't want to think about on vacation." She stated

"You and I are more alike than you realize, Darlin'. I'll leave you alone while we're here. But once we get back, you and I are going to have a very long discussion." He stated, taking his beer and wandering off down the beach

She watched him go. It both relieved her and saddened her that he had left. Obviously he was staying on the island with her until they left so she could find him if she really wanted. He'd be close enough should something happen but far enough away that she could relax on her own. She hoped. The white tank top just showed how toned he actually was and there were quite a few young ladies down the beach who didn't find it inappropriate to comment on him.

Zoe went back to reading her book and sipping her Daiquiri. Once she started reading, she all but forgot Eliot had come to the Bahamas too. He found himself a seat further down the beach. A nice lounge chair with an umbrella. He was far enough away to give Zoe some space but close enough he could keep an eye on her. It was nice. Just sitting on the beach enjoying the sun, the sand, the surf. Enjoying the environment. Then he would look down the beach to see her stretched out on her lounger and thoughts of her would start invading his mind.

True to his word, Eliot didn't bother her the rest of their vacation. They found a rhythm to their time. They would have breakfast at table's right next to one another and have dinner together in the evenings. They kept their distance but still stayed within eye sight of one another. Even though she was glad to be away from everyone, she still felt more at ease with him there. She learned how to scuba dive and even got her license while she was there. She had the staff take a few photos of her.

By the morning of their departure Zoe was refreshed, revitalized, and feeling great. This was the first time she had ever really had a vacation. She always jumped from job to job while the only down-time being recovery. Keeping busy kept her from thinking too much about the things she'd done. It took a conscious effort to not think of her past and the evil things she'd done or even dwell on the things that had been done to her. She made an effort to enjoy herself and the environment she was in.

It didn't take her long to pack so she took a quick shower and found an outfit she liked with plain black flops that would be comfortable enough for the trip back. Slinging her bag over her shoulder, she exited her room and headed to the reception desk. She found Eliot doing the very same thing. Today he was wearing a pair of dark denim jeans, his trademark boots, and grey t-shirt. They didn't say a word to one another as he hailed them a cab.

He was sitting two rows behind her on the plane back to Portland. ¼ the way through the flight they hit some bad turbulence. It made her uneasy but she tried to remain calm. Of everything she had been through in her life, this was not something she took lightly. Taking a few deep breaths helped calm her some but she was still on guard. The rest of the flight was very bumpy and she couldn't sleep no matter how hard she tried. It was a very long 7 hour flight back home.

Eliot watched as she all but bolted from the airplane the first chance she got. He silently followed her off the plane and out to find a cab. It didn't take him long to find where she was standing outside waiting for a cab. He came to a stop next to her and smiled to himself when he heard her stomach making noises. They had no idea if anyone else had returned yet or not. When they finally made it back to their headquarters, their home, they found that they were indeed the first ones back.

She immediately headed up to her room to put her clothes in her laundry basket and put the rest of her stuff where it goes. The place was eerily quiet and suddenly it unnerved her. Her ears perked up and she sniffed the air. It was early afternoon, despite the 7 hour flight, and she had no clue when the rest of their group would return. Not hearing Eliot moving around the condo, she cautiously began making her way back downstairs. She still didn't hear anything. Was there something off or was she being paranoid?

She was looking around to make sure nothing was out of place. He had taken his shoes off to lay on his bed but the sudden urge to pee hit him. As he was coming out of the bathroom, he saw Zoe silently making her way downstairs. Did she hear something when he hadn't? He followed her to make sure and stopped a few steps from the bottom of the stairs to watch her. She was meticulous, like he was, in her examination of their space and he respected that. She had looked over everything and saw nothing out of place. Everything was where it should be and everything locked up tight.

"Everything ok?" Eliot asked

"Huh?! Oh. Yeah, it seemed to be too quiet in here so I thought I should investigate." She confessed

He nodded in understanding, "It's because Hardison isn't here with his computer and Parker isn't breaking into things."

It was her who nodded this time. Her stomach began making noises again which made Eliot smile to himself. He offered to make them some lunch which she was very grateful for. She hated to admit it but she had missed his cooking. The island food was fabulous. Great flavors, cooked right every time but there was just something to Eliot's cooking. While he headed into the kitchen, she went to get her laundry going before everyone showed back up.

When she emerged from getting her laundry going, she had to chuckle to herself to see he was making them fancy grilled cheeses. She set about making a pitcher of sweet tea while he was cooking. After cleaning up from lunch, he went upstairs to work out while she headed to her room. He never knew what she did when she was alone. Sometime later that afternoon a thunderstorm started. She laid down to take a nap, only intending to nap, and wound up sleeping all through dinner and the night!


	19. Chapter 19

**** FFW 3 MONTHS ****

**A/N: This chapter is kinda gnarly. I wanted to make this antagonist as evil as possible. I do not mean to offend anyone and I sincerely hope none of this has ever truly happened to any of you. Thank you.**

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Nate asked Zoe to accompany him and Sophie to the client meeting this morning. She was learning from him so it didn't really bother her to do so. Their client arrived and the meeting got underway. Zoe listened to the woman's story about her sister's family being murdered and their 12 year old daughter, her niece, being taken. She didn't want to listen to any more but she had an obligation. Nate asked the woman who she thought took her niece and it surprised Zoe to hear her say that she knew who had done it. Evan Van Bree.

Zoe's eyes went wide, which thankfully the client didn't catch, making Sophie look at her with concern. The redhead really started listening then as her mind started racing to figure out how she could get to Evan without endangering the team. By the time the client said her goodbyes to them, Zoe was shaking in rage. Sophie was asking her what was wrong but Zoe didn't hear a word of it. She headed straight to her room.

As soon as Nate, Sophie, and Zoe had entered the condo and the Hitter, Hacker, and Thief saw the state of the redhead, Eliot followed her to her room. He found her pacing her room and it was more than obvious to the Hitter that she was in deep thought about something. Hardison was typing feverishly on his keyboard to bring up information on the guy they were about to go after. Whatever had happened during the client meeting had really messed with Zoe's head. None of them had ever seen her so unglued before. She was both freaked out and angry and he wasn't entirely sure why.

Eliot could see that Zoe was shaking. She was deep in thought about something and he had a bad feeling the team was about to learn a whole lot about their little Hitter-Hacker-Thief hybrid. She was completely oblivious to his presence as she thought about the best way to go about this. Hardison would be key to helping her because she would need to know exactly how many people were in and around Evan's fortress. Eliot finally relented that she was ok enough to be left alone.

"Nate! I've got something. Evan Van Bree is…" Hardison started as Eliot made his way down to where everyone else was at, "… well the guy is worse than Moreau."

"What do you mean, Hardison?" Sophie asked, furrowing her brows

Eliot snorted. No one was worse than his old boss.

"Yeah, who could be worse than Moreau?" Parker questioned slightly confused

"The guy has killed people. Not just those who get in his way like Moreau. This dude has killed people for the sheer thrill of it. Like a sport or something. Or if they have something he wants, he'll just kill 'em and then take it. He's untouchable from what I can tell." Hardison explained

"Moreau thought he was untouchable too but we took him down. What's different with this guy?" Parker asked

"What part of _'he kills people for the thrill of it'_ don't you understand, woman? He's not just protected from on high. He's got people in his pocket. Usually by threatening to kill or actually killing their families or loved ones if they don't do what he wants. He just takes what he wants no matter who it belongs to." Hardison explained

"What else do we know about him?" Nate questioned, sudden bad feeling gripping his belly

"His collection of wives, yes I said _'collection of wives'_, were just girls when he took them from their families and forced them to marry him. He's made these girls do whatever he wanted by threatening to kill their families. Unknowing the truth, they obliged. He killed their family as he took the girls from their homes. And it doesn't appear he's treated most of them very well either. Lots of doctor's bills sent to his place." Hardison choked out

"So is this how is he is as bad as Moreau then?" Parker innocently questioned

"Sounds to me like he's worse." Sophie added in with a disapproving shake of her head

Eliot just shook his head. This couldn't be good. Zoe had ties to this creep, he knew it. Was this the person she was running from? Did this creep just take her from her family and force her to marry him like these other girls? Eliot hadn't realized he'd been growling. An uncontrolled, rage-filled growl. One that actually made Parker scoot away from him on the couch.

"Where is he at?" Nate questioned, eyes never leaving the photos Hardison had brought up

"His base of operations is in the Ukraine. Sevastopol to be exact. It's a big tourist town with a huge naval and maritime features. Roughly 341k people live there. Mild winters, moderately warm summers which is why it's such a nice tourist destination. Also, there's no extradition treaty with the US, or anywhere." Hardison explained

"This is San Lorenzo all over again." Eliot sighed, running a hand through his chestnut hair

"He's into just about everything that's illegal. Gun-running, human trafficking, out-right stealing, drug-running…." Hardison stated before choking up a bit, "…. Black market adoptions, child porn, you name it."

"He's worse. Much, much worse." Nate solemnly stated

They were going over the things Hardison had found and didn't realize Zoe had come downstairs. She stood behind them all watching the screens and listening to the conversation. Seeing _his_ face made her want to vomit. Understanding he was their next mark made her want to succumb to the rage and let the demons out to play, so to speak. There were holes in the recon. There were things these people needed to know.

She didn't know whether to put on a brave face, like Eliot usually did, or speak with a child-like tone like Parker. Either way she was going to have to speak and speak soon. The more she heard them talking, the angrier she became. Not at them. Evan had hurt many, many, many people over the years. She wasn't the only one. Just him in general made her angry.

"He's a fucking monster!" She suddenly exclaimed making 2 of the 5 jump at her outburst and them all turn around and look at her

"What do you know about him?" Nate questioned

Her eyes darted to Eliot briefly before she turned her attention back to the screen and sighing.

"Too much." She quietly stated

"Anything you can tell us will be greatly helpful. This guy is untouchable." Hardison stated

Her laugh was eerie. Her laugh actually scared Sophie a bit making the Grifter scoot instinctively closer to Nate. Eliot watched her carefully. Even Parker was a bit concerned at her reaction.

"Untouchable? No. Creepy? Yes. Asshole? Yes. Sadistic? Yes. Untouchable? Definitely not." Zoe stated before making her way to stand in front of the screens

She asked the Hacker to pull up the photos of his fortress in the Sevastopol. Everyone watched as the photos came up. Zoe instructed him where to zoom in.

"There. That's how I escaped. I crawled through that little tunnel that I had discovered one day. It won't be hard to go in the way I came out." Zoe stated before turning to look at the team

"So Nate…. What con are you thinking of?" Sophie asked

"No. No cons. You want to take him down but he'll see right through anything you bring. This is going to be done my way." Zoe stated firmly

"And what are you thinking?" Nate questioned

"All I need is Hardison's help. The rest of you need to stay out of it." Zoe exclaimed

"No, absolutely not. No one on this team is going rogue. We do this together." Nate replied

"Then you're going to get them all killed. I will get you whatever information you need to help the client but we do this my way." She stated again, "And do **NOT** ask me what I'm doing. Or what I'm planning."

"I don't like this, Nate. We had a hard enough time taking down Moreau. If this guy is worse than him…." Sophie stated

"That's why we're going to take our time with this. We learned from Moreau. Planning is everything." Nate told her

"I like you guys. Really. But I won't stand by and let you lead the rest of them to their death because you won't listen to the one person who knows him better than probably anyone else on Earth." Zoe stated with an irritated tone

Hardison just looked at Zoe like she'd grown a second head. They were used to Sophie pulling Nate aside and laying into him. No one else would ever really do that. Zoe had been staring at the Mastermind, watching him carefully. When he spoke finally she took a deep breath. This was not something she was going to back down from.

"You tell me everything. We work this as a team, including comms, even if you only really need Hardison. Agreed?" Nate said after a few minutes of thinking

"Just as long as you don't question my decisions and the things that I'm going to do." She retaliated

The rest of the team had been watching the back-and-forth between them with awe. It was almost a power struggle but Sophie knew that this was Zoe's way of trying to keep them safe from the monster they were about to go after. Much like Eliot's way was by not telling them about his connection to Moreau when they started going after him.

Eliot watched her as she headed back to her room. She needed to make a few calls to get things going. In the heat of the argument, most people had missed one key word. Eliot and Sophie hadn't missed it. The Grifter looked over to their Hitter with a knowing look. This was not going to end well. Nate didn't like the underlying statement of what Zoe had told them. He certainly didn't like being told not to ask her about what she was doing or the plans she was making. That meant, to him, that she was going to be doing something they wouldn't approve of.

While they weren't in the business of killing people, he knew Eliot had killed at least a dozen men to allow him and the Italian to escape the warehouse when they were going after Moreau. He would never get rid of the guilt for letting the Hitter do that but he also knew that that was the only way of escape. He trusted Eliot and trusted the man's judgment. He wanted to trust Zoe's judgment but he couldn't get rid of the feeling that things weren't going to turn out well. Nathan Ford did not like not being in control of a situation!

An hour later, Zoe came back downstairs. Nate and Sophie were having a heated conversation at the dinner table. Parker was messing with some of her rigs. Eliot was sitting in an armchair watching the screens while Hardison was doing more digging. Zoe sat down to the left of the Hacker and asked him to find out exactly how many people were in the fortress and if he could get an approximation of their height & weight. Eliot cocked his eyebrow at her but she chose to ignore him.

She wanted a list of everyone who works there as well. Hardison was curious as to what she was up to but decided he really didn't want to know. Nate wanted to plan their con. He was convinced they could pull it off despite what Zoe told him. They had conned Moreau. More or less. Sophie didn't like what she thought Zoe could be up to either but wasn't sure they could con Van Bree from the information Hardison had drudged up. Parker just wanted what he had that was valuable that she might want.


	20. Chapter 20

**A/N: Sorry this chapter has taken me so long to finish. I was reading a fellow Kaniac's fic (which is amazing by the way, go read it here: s/7921213/1/The-Occam-s-razor-Job). Then this chapter didn't want to come out the way I had intended. I'm still not entirely 100% happy with it. I hope you all enjoy though :)**

* * *

It wasn't going to take Zoe long to get in, get the job done, and get out. It wasn't going to take long to plan. Up until now she had never considered killing him. She should have done so before she left him. Shaking her head, she turned back to the Hacker and the information he was bringing up for her. The slamming of the door startled her and she jumped slightly. They heard Sophie call out _'Nate'_ before the door slammed shut again.

She turned to look at the other four in the room with her and found they were all looking at her. Had she caused a rift between Nate and Sophie? She sighed and turned back to the screens. There was a task at hand and she needed to be prepared. The eyes that were still on her was starting to get under her skin.

"What?!" She exclaimed

"Nothing. We just don't really like when they fight." Hardison piped up

She sighed again, "I'm sorry if I'm causing the problems."

"Nate isn't good at giving up control or people…. Well…. Sophie is really the only one who gets away with talking to him like that." Hardison stated

"Look, I don't want any of you getting caught in the crossfire of the shit storm I know is gonna start up. Evan is my problem. You guys are too good to not keep this going." She stated, looking around their headquarters and home, "Nate has no idea what Evan is capable of. And quite frankly I don't want y'all involved in what I'm going to have to do."

"We're a team. We do things as a team. You don't have to do this alone." Hardison said

"This, yes I do." Zoe stated

"How long do you need to plan?" Eliot asked

"I don't need to plan. I just need the time to gather what I need." She replied

"What are you going to do?" Parker questioned

"It's just better you don't know." Zoe replied

She didn't seem satisfied with the answer but wasn't going to press. Eliot understood the meaning. She would do everything she could but ultimately she may have to kill him. He knew she had killed before. Was this just to keep them safe? Or was this to finally get her own revenge? Did it matter? Did it matter to her? It seemed to matter to Nate, or so Eliot thought.

"We took down Moreau. We can take this guy." Parker stated confidently

"Damien Moreau. Sick bastard he was. I am impressed. Where do you think he got his start?" Zoe asked

"You knew Moreau?!" Eliot questioned, looking at her suspiciously

"Sort of. Mostly in passing I guess." She replied with a shrug

"So Van Bree is who got Moreau started?" Hardison questioned

"Pretty much. Taught him a lot, jump started him with some funds, and let him loose on the world." Zoe explained

Sophie didn't like the idea of Zoe basically going rogue with Hardison, even with them being on the comms, but she understood that she was trying to keep the team safe. Nate had a problem with control, even if he didn't want to admit, and that was the basis of his problems with what Zoe was doing. Nate tried to reason with Sophie about why this was such a bad idea. Their conversation got quite heated and he stormed out.

Sophie quickly followed. If anyone could talk sense into Nathan Ford it would be her. They had all come to think of Zoe as family and she had never let them down on the job. Whenever they needed her she was always there for them. They continued their argument down in the Gastro-Pub. Eventually, Nate decided arguing with Sophie wasn't going to get him anywhere. He downed his Whiskey making her scowl at him.

Zoe received a text and right afterwards headed up to her room to pack. She had special items she was taking. This was going to be…. She stopped her packing to stare out the window. That impossible tunnel she had accidentally found one afternoon. As her memories came flooding back to her, she subconsciously sat down on her bed. She was so naïve back then. Thinking she if she could get physically away from him then she could get away from everything she'd done. She thought if she left him then she would leave her deeds behind.

If he discovered her he would kill her. She knew it. She also knew that he'd kill whoever she was associated with. Although she hadn't been with the team as long as they'd been with each other, she still didn't want to cause them any unnecessary danger. She hadn't lied when she told them she liked them. Hearing the clack of Sophie's heels coming up the stairs brought Zoe out of her thoughts. She got back to packing her bag as Sophie stopped in her doorway.

Sophie watched her packing and wondered what she was doing. Zoe, without looking up to see who it was, told the Grifter that she had to go meet someone to get the items she needed. Sophie watched as she packed clothes she hadn't ever seen the redhead wear. Once she was finished with her packing, she turned to the Grifter. She gave a small smile knowing there was a chance she wouldn't be returning to the team.

Sophie followed her downstairs. Nate was sitting next to Hardison while the Hacker did what he did best. Parker was fiddling with one of her rigs while Eliot was sitting in the same chair he'd been in when she left. He looked lost in his thoughts and she wondered what he was thinking about. She dropped her bag on the floor to the right of the chair Eliot was sitting in and turned to Nate.

"Where are you going?" The Mastermind questioned

"I'll meet you in 3 days in Sevastopol. Send me all the info you got for me, Hardison." Zoe replied

"That's not what I asked." Nate stated

"I know what you asked. I'm going to fetch the things I need. I'll meet you in Sevastopol in 3 days. Yes I have my phone and my ear bud." She replied, cocking an eyebrow at Nate, "And yes I know you're going to be tracking me to know where I'm going. Doesn't mean I'm going to tell you. I'm asking you out of professional courtesy, Hardison, to not track me through cameras. You don't need to know who I'm dealing with."

Nate just looked at her then silently nodded. She looked around the room, eyes landing on Parker. The blond was looking at her curiously. Zoe smiled warmly at the blond before looking over at Hardison. He gave her a cheeky grin. Sophie was just looking at her with an almost worried look. Eliot wouldn't look at her all. She grabbed her bag off the floor and started towards the door.

"Be careful, Zoe." Sophie called out

Zoe turned around to look at the Grifter, "I'm always careful. I promise I'll see you in 3 days."

With that she turned and left the condo. She had a flight to catch, after all. The five-some watched her walk out the door. Hardison looked over to Nate wanting some instruction on what he should do. The Mastermind didn't really know. He wanted Zoe to keep him in the loop but also understood she was trying to keep them safe from her contacts. This was like Eliot's round-a-about way of keeping them safe by not telling them about his affiliation with Moreau when they first started going after him. Nate really didn't want to know what Zoe was going to do to Van Bree.

Nate told the Hacker the first thing he needed out of him was reservations in Sevastopol. Hardison immediately got to working on that while everyone else remained silent. Sophie never really believed the petite young woman was a killer. They knew Eliot was even if he never wanted to talk about it. The Grifter had some romanticized ideations about Zoe and what she had done until she had come to be with their little band of Robin Hood Thieves.

Eliot couldn't take the click-clack of Hardison typing on his keyboard any more. He got up and headed to the roof where his work-out equipment was located. The Hitter needed to hit something. He needed to get this antsy energy out before he went crazy. As his fists made contact with his punching bag, he started thinking about what Zoe was doing. What stuff did she need to go get that would take 3 days? What exactly was she picking up?

He was curious as to what she was thinking. He hated not knowing, not understanding what the plan was. Without knowing he wasn't sure how he could protect his team. That bugged him more than anything else. Eliot knew what Zoe was capable of. Or so he thought. Punch, punch, punch. The punching bag moved with each hit Eliot gave it. More than anything, he was afraid that something would happen to Zoe in these 3 days while she was gone from the team and he couldn't help her.

"Nate, she's boarding a flight for St. Petersburg." Hardison told the Mastermind

"Fine. Sophie, do you have any contacts in Russia?" Nate asked

"I can call Vlad. What do you need?" The Grifter asked

"Nothing yet. Hardison, track her movements but respect her wishes." Nate stated

Hardison frowned but nodded his head. It was going to take nearly a full day to travel to Russia and just over a full day to drive from Russia to Sevastopol. She knew she would have to sleep when she got into Sevastopol before she got down to business. Knowing how the next few days were going to be, she slept as much as she could on the plane. When she woke up several hours later, it was shortly before the evening meal.

After the meal, which was much better than she had anticipated, she settled back into her seat to watch the movie that was playing. There was still about 12 hours of the flight left. There was so much to do and sitting in an airplane for 21 hours was not her ideal way to start it all. Unfortunately until science actually develops a portal or something this was the only option to get from one location to one thousands of miles away.

Once the movie was over, another started playing. It didn't interest her so she closed her eyes and tried to go back to sleep. She scooted around to find a more comfortable position. Leaning the chair back, and quite thankful she was in first class, she turned to her left and closed her eyes. The next 3 days were going to have her on edge. As hard as she tried, her thoughts kept drifting back to the 5 thieves back in Portland. How were they going to cope with what was going to happen in the Ukraine?

Eliot had already packed and was sitting back in the living room waiting on the rest of the team. Their flight would be a hair over 21 hours giving them 2 days until Zoe officially arrived in Sevastopol as well. Their flight didn't leave for another 3 hours but Nate suggested they stop on the way to the airport and have a nice meal together. Eliot was sure there was an ulterior motive behind it. At the very least he knew something the rest of them didn't.


	21. Chapter 21

Nate found a nice restaurant close to the airport. The entire team seemed to have been put on mute and the Mastermind knew he had to get them settled before they headed off on an international flight going into a situation that they didn't know much about. He parked the car and quickly exited. As he was making his way into the Italian restaurant, the rest of the team were exiting the car.

He followed the waitress to a round table to the right of the doors. The rest of them made their way into the restaurant and to the table. Sophie sat down on his right, Hardison on his left, Parker to Hardison's left and Eliot in between the two ladies. They ordered their drinks as they looked over the menu. Everyone was still pretty quiet which in itself was unusual. Nate knew Sophie was worried about their adopted teammate. He was sure Eliot was more worried about something happening to her that he couldn't help her with.

They sat in silence until their waitress returned. She passed out their drinks with a warm smile. Sophie asked a question about one of their dishes which the girl, Tammy, was happy to tell her about. Once she was done Sophie told her that's what she wanted. Parker was next to order. Nate ordered followed by a still unsure Hardison. Eliot had a few questions for Tammy before he placed his own order. _'I told you, you were a food snob'_ he heard Hardison state as he started asking his questions. Once he placed his order, however, everyone turned to look at one another.

"OK. You all understand the danger we're heading into in the Ukraine. You all understand the danger Zoe is in by going off on her own like this. I'm not happy about it but if I've learned anything from you guys it's to trust your instincts." Nate said, starting the conversation

"I'm keeping close tabs on her but she's still on the plane." Hardison stated nonchalantly

"What are we going to do when we get there?" Parker innocently questioned

"That's what I'd like to know!" Sophie stated, eyeing Nate suspiciously

The Mastermind sighed.

"We'll have to wait to see what she needs us to do. I didn't listen to Eliot when he said he knew how to deal with Moreau. I won't make that mistake with Zoe. We'll do what she needs us to do." Nate explained with a sigh

The other four just looked at one another. They knew just how hard giving up control was for him. To not be the one with the plan. To have to sit back and take orders. It was almost killing him inside but he was making the effort for the newest teammate.

"So we're going to Sevastopol and just sitting around a hotel until Zoe finds a use for us? Does anyone else think this is wrong?" Sophie stated, looking around the table

"Sophie, she knows this guy better than any of us. She knows things about him that Hardison's little web bugs won't be able to tell us. The best thing we can really do is sit back and wait for when she needs us." Eliot explained

"I still don't like any of this." Sophie huffed

"I don't either. Think of what our client told us. Of all the things he's done and is into. He has to be stopped." Nate retorted

"She'll be OK, won't she?" Parker suddenly asked

Eliot grinned slightly. Hardison just looked at her with a slight smile. Sophie looked over at the Thief with a happy but surprised look. It was a good sign to the Grifter. Parker was showing concern for others.

"She's a smart woman. Like Hardison said, she's practically a one-woman Leverage team. She survived on her own for a long time like the rest of you. We'll see her when we get there." Nate said in an almost soothing voice

Eliot had to admit the man made sense. The Hitter was certain she would at least call him if something was going on. He was sure she was planning on killing Van Bree but he couldn't say for certain. If he were in her shoes he probably would. Even Moreau hadn't done things to him that he thought Van Bree had done to Zoe. Hearing what this guy was into and some of the things he'd done to young women made Eliot's skin crawl. It would be better if Zoe found him first because if he did there wouldn't be anything left for her!

By the time she'd made it to St. Petersburg, she was anxious to get things going. Having nothing to do but sit and think did her no favors. It was going to take roughly 27 hours to drive from St. Petersburg to Sevastopol. As soon as she landed, she turned her phone back on. She was hoping to have some messages from her contacts.

_'White van ready with everything you requested & paperwork'__'Scuba gear ready & waiting at dock 7'__'Hotel suite booked at Aquamarine Apts & Hotel, suite 1348'_

The last text was from Hardison. She had to smile in silent thanks. She would check in, take her luggage to the suite, and crash for probably 12 hours if not more. With any luck they wouldn't fly out before she got there. The drive from Russia would be long especially since she wasn't allowing herself to stop and rest. She would load up on coffee and drive straight through. These were going to be a very long 3 days. The after math would be hard too but she would have to deal with that bridge when she came to it.

Silently, she followed the rest of the passengers off the plane and to the luggage claim. Once she had her bag, she headed out of the airport to catch a cab to the where this white van was sitting waiting for her. It had everything she'd asked Ivan for and she was very thankful he'd been able to procure the items so quickly. Half an hour later the cab pulled up to the address she'd been given. Paying the cabbie, she grabbed her bag and slammed the door shut. He quickly took off leaving her in the midst of a bunch of seemingly abandoned buildings.

It didn't take her long to find the van. Before she knew it she was bounding down the road on her way to Sevastopol. She had 1359 miles, or 2187 kilometers, to drive and roughly $270 for gas and tolls the entire way. If she hadn't lived here before she would pleasantly shocked at how cheap it was to drive 1300 miles in a car! It was technically the next day and she couldn't help but wonder where the rest of them were at. Were they still back in Portland? Or had they bought plane tickets yet? She chuckled to herself. Hardison would hack them tickets instead of paying good money for them.

As she drove along the highway she realized that not only was she thinking about the rest of the team, something she never would have done before, but that these thoughts also made her smile. This band of thieves actually made her happy! It was such a profound thought for her. Ever since she left Evan she had worked alone. He had instilled in her the ideations that working with others was bad. It led to bad things. Then she let Nate sweet-talk her into sticking around "for one more job".

As she acclimated to their personalities, the way they did things, and the fact that they helped people, she began to actually like them. In her own way of course. She liked learning from Hardison. He was a much better hacker than she was and she did learn quite a lot from him. The young man even got her to playing World of Warcraft with him much to his excitement. No one else got into the gaming and he was happy to have someone to play with. Then there was Parker.

She was quite an unusual personality. It took Zoe the longest amount of time to bond with her. Once they started talking about rappelling, various ropes and harnesses they discovered they did have something in common. Sometimes they would even go rappelling together. Zoe learned quite a bit from the Thief about which ropes and harnesses were best to use for what. Zoe understood that the blond had a very difficult childhood and that she'd never really picked up basic conversation and people skills.

Zoe was a bit weary of the Grifter. After all she lied for a living. She conned for a living. The redhead had to admit, though, that Sophie was one of the most charismatic individuals she'd ever met. Although she had never been one of those "girly girls". After her mother died, she never really had someone to teach her about clothes and make-up. Sophie was more than happy to talk about shoes, clothes, make-up, nails, and hair. Although Zoe still preferred jeans and tanks or bondage pants and band t-shirts, she would occasionally dress "up" making Sophie giddy.

She didn't talk to Nate much. However, she did pay close attention to when he spoke. She picked up his unspoken cues and body language. She tried to learn how to calculate and see things the way he did to plan their cons and such. He was inherently a good guy. The rest of them were all thieves and killers pretty much from the starting gate. She tried to learn from him as much as she could. Besides the drinking. She didn't need any help in crawling into a bottle or instructions on how to get there. Despite all that, she did respect the man and did like him when he wasn't drunk.

As she stopped for gas, and a very quick bite to eat, she began to think about the repercussions of what she was about to do. People were going to die because of her. Eliot probably wouldn't look at her much different. He was a killer too, after all, and did what he had to do in order to survive. The rest of them was a different story. In all their criminal endeavors, none of them have never had to kill someone. Knocking them out was one thing. She had to prepare herself for the fact that she would probably have to walk away from them.

That idea made her sad for some reason. Especially since she was so reluctant to join their little band of thieves in the first place. For the first time in a very long time she actually felt like she had a family of sorts. Or people who bugged her like a real family would. That counted for something! Leaving them would be sad but she would adapt like she always did. She would definitely keep her eyes on them, however, if she left jut to make sure they were all doing OK. At this point she knew she couldn't just walk away and not keep tabs.

She was very thankful that the drive from Russia was uneventful. Approaching the Ukraine border made her nerves act up. Evan kept tabs on his enemies no matter where they were. She was sure he had tried to keep up with her. She was afraid that he would know shortly after she entered the Ukraine that she was back. That's not anything she wanted. Knowing him, he would have a "kill on sight" order on her if he knew she was "back".

As she crossed the border, she made sure she was driving the speed limit, not driving erratically or anything, and generally tried to _not_ draw attention to herself. She had roughly 685 miles to go and just under 14 ½ hours to drive. Shortly after crossing the border she stopped for a late night snack and to fill the gas tank. She grabbed the largest cup of coffee she could and paid for her gas. It was still a long way to go to get to Sevastopol. Although she had slept as much as she could on the plane, she was starting to feel the effects of jet lag.

A long 14 hours later and she was pulling up into a parking garage a few blocks from where the hotel Hardison had booked was located. With a heavy sigh, she grabbed her bag and locked the van up. It was very late, or early depending on your point of view, when she strolled into the hotel. She didn't know what name Hardison had given the reception so she took her phone to get the information. She checked in with a tired sigh.

Keeping her head down, she made her way up to her suite. The closer she got to her room the more the exhaustion began to sink in. Before she could allow herself to succumb to sleep, she had to check the entire suite for bugs and to make sure the room was secure. Maybe it was paranoia or it was just because she was in the same city as _him_. She had to make sure she would be ok once she passed out. After a very thorough search of the room, closing all the curtains, she finally picked a room which was black and red and fell back onto the bed. She was asleep before her head hit the bed.

Unbeknownst to the rest of the team, they had a lay-over for two hours in New York which lasted nearly 36 hours due to inclement weather. Everyone was getting anxious to get to the Ukraine and to check up on Zoe. Hardison kept them up-to-date on her whereabouts after she landed in St. Petersburg.


	22. Chapter 22

Eliot was more than annoyed. The lay-over was only supposed to last for two hours. Instead they were stuck in this airport for a day and a half. Being stuck in an airport for a day and a half was not Eliot's idea of fun. Between Hardison's techie jokes and Parker trying to steal everything he thought he was going to kill them before he even stepped one foot on an airplane. Nate and Sophie were sitting a few feet away from the other three talking quietly amongst themselves.

Eliot rolled his eyes wishing he were anywhere else than where he was. The initial flight from Portland to NYC was only 4 ½ hours. Not bad, all things considered. They had just a two hour lay-over where they figured on getting a quick snack and stretching their legs. The rest of their flight was supposed to be just a hair under 14 hours. Then a storm hit. Looking over to where Hardison was sitting, he found the young hacker still typing away at his keyboard.

"Listen guys, we're not going anywhere. No one is allowed to come into or out of the airport until this storm passes. We're going to be here a while." Hardison stated

"Why is that?" Nate questioned

"This storm isn't supposed to let up until tomorrow. Bad thunderstorm with lots of lightning. Possible tornadoes as well. Hunker down, folks, it's going to be a long night." Hardison explained

Eliot sighed. The last thing he needed was to be in the middle of a tornado with a hysterical Parker. He glanced out the window and noted just how black the sky was. Hardison wasn't lying when he said they were having some serious thunderstorms. It was bad if the air traffic controllers weren't allowing any planes to leave. They were expecting trouble. Sliding a little further down in his seat, he began to think about what Zoe could be doing and how she was doing.

Sophie and Nate were sitting a few feet from the kids. They were talking about various things trying to deliberately keep the conversation away from why they were flying into the Ukraine. They didn't want to talk about if Zoe needed them already and they couldn't even get out of the US! Sophie was worried, like a Mother Hen, and she just wanted to make sure the young woman was alright. Nate was more worried about her needing their help with her plan and them not being able to help her.

"Nate, what if something happens while she's there and we can't get to her?" Sophie quietly questioned

"We'll have to deal with that when the time comes." He stated, looking out the window to the darkened sky

"What is she going to do?" Sophie asked, following his gaze

"I don't know, Soph. Eliot would be the one to ask about that." He replied quietly

"She can't go on a murdering spree, Nate!" Sophie exclaimed, although she kept her voice low

"The girl has to do what she has to do. Remember what that maniac is. She escaped that. He didn't let her go. She **_escaped_** him. She will always be looking over her shoulder and we don't need her to be worried that he'll catch up to her. We don't need her worried about us should he catch up to _us_." Nate replied

"We all look over our shoulders…." Sophie began

"This is her Moreau, Sophie! We have to stand by her no matter what she has to do. Haven't you noticed how much more at east Eliot has been since we dealt with Moreau? Zoe will be too." Nate hissed, doing his best to keep his voice low

Sophie sighed in defeat. She knew Nate was right. Glancing over she could tell a difference in the Hitter. He was always on guard, of course, but at the same time he was more relaxed around them and when they weren't on a job. She knew there were still people after their Hitter. Having a bounty on one's head will leave a giant bulls eye no matter what you do. After taking down Damien Moreau, however, they all seemed to rest a little easier. It had tested their skills and they knew they could take on anyone as long as they had one another.

Right now Zoe was on her own. She didn't have them. She was on her own in the Ukraine. If something happened to her before they got there Sophie was sure none of them would ever forgive themselves. Their kids, although they were all adults, looked to Nate and Sophie for guidance. When Nate began to panic, they began to panic. She looked over to where the trio were sitting and smiled to herself.

They were a family no matter what happens. They made it through what Eliot had to do with and for Damien Moreau. They made it through Nate taking down Latimer and Dubenich for the second time. They'll make it through this. No matter how bloody it may get. Sophie knew Zoe would do everything she could to keep them from getting blood on their hands. It was both a comforting and frightening thought.

Eliot had heard what Nate hissed at Sophie. It was true. He had relaxed some since they took care of Moreau. Even more so since the General had informed him of an accident that happened a few months after they had left San Lorenzo. If anyone knew the feelings of the after math that this will have on Zoe it would be him. For a long time he dealt with feelings of guilt and remorse. He hated having to kill again because of Moreau. At the same time since Moreau had been dealt with he did feel that burden lifted off him.

After what felt like forever, the Leverage team finally found themselves on an inter-continental flight to the Ukraine. Nate told the group to make sure to drink plenty of water so they weren't dehydrated when they landed. Sophie told them to get a little sleep after they were in the air. She handed each of them a velvet sleep mask to help with that too. Nate reminded Eliot not to have more than one beer with dinner since the effects of alcohol were worse at 30,000 feet. The Hitter rolled his eyes since this wasn't his first long-distance flight.

Sometime after they took off, Hardison explained that they would be arriving in Sevastopol around noon. Sophie said they shouldn't go to sleep as soon as they got there but wait and try to hit the hay between 7pm and 9pm to stave off any jet lag. Eliot growled. Parker, being bored and being Parker, fell asleep shortly after take-off. Nate and Sophie talked about her shoe habit. Hardison was doing some research while he could and Eliot found himself closing his eyes and thinking back the past year and a half since Zoe had joined their group.

* * *

The descent into Sevastopol was a bit rougher than normal. Sophie didn't like all the turbulence but there wasn't much she could really do about it. She tightened her belt and gripped the arms of her seat and hoped that their landing would be easier than the descent. Even the usually cool and calm Eliot was getting a bit nervous. With a final jerk, the plane was on the ground and taxiing towards the gate.

45 minutes later and the luggage was finally coming up on the conveyor belt. Eliot stood back watching the crowd. They were on foreign soil and targeting someone who lived here. They had done it before but this seemed different. One of their own was already here. She could have been spotted. She could have been taken and there is an ambush waiting for them. Eliot's paranoia was kicking in and he was on high guard. Parker was happy when her bag, out of their team, was the first to show up. Nate quietly told her to check over her luggage to make sure it was in the same condition as when she had parted with it.

Satisfied with her check, she moved to stand a little bit from Eliot. Hardison was the next to get his luggage. He too checked over his bags to make sure nothing had changed or a bug hadn't been planted either. Just like Parker, Hardison stood several feet away but on the opposite side from the blond Thief. Over an hour later and all five had their bags and made sure their luggage was safe to bring to their hotel. They took three separate cabs. Nate and Sophie in one, Hardison and Parker in another, and Eliot alone in the final cab.

When they made it to the hotel, Hardison headed into the building first to check them in. He knew which aliases he'd used to reserve the rooms. Besides, Nate suggested Hardison check them in by himself so that if they were being followed or watched it would be harder to catch. As the young Hacker stood at the counter waiting on his room keys, he had to chuckle at Nate. It seems the Mastermind was getting a bit paranoid as well! Hardison was told as he received his room keys that one of his party had checked in about an hour ago.

As he walked leisurely towards the elevator, he sent a text to Nate telling him that he had everyone's room key and what room to go to. He had booked the largest suite they had. There were five bedrooms, a large living room area, and a medium sized kitchen with an appropriate sized dining room. There was a nice balcony off the dining room and the master bedroom. They had access to all the amenities of the hotel, which were pretty good according to Hardison, so he knew they'd all be comfortable during their stay in Sevastopol. The first thing he noticed was that all the curtains had been drawn.

Hardison didn't pick his room yet, mainly because he wanted to give Parker the chance to pick hers, so he just sat down in the living room and waited for everyone else to arrive. He set up his laptop and a projector while he waited. He hacked into the security feed from the hotel so he could keep an eye on anything suspicious. Slowly, and one-by-one, the rest of the team made their way into their temporary home. He greeted everyone with a smile and a room key.

"Where's Zoe?" Sophie questioned as soon as she'd entered

"I… uh… I haven't checked the rest of the suite yet. I figured she was asleep since the receptionist said one of my people had checked in an hour ago." Hardison stuttered

**"You. Haven't. Checked. The. Suite. Yet?!"** Eliot growled out angrily

Hardison shrugged his shoulder apathetically as he stood up to give Parker her room key. Nate returned to the living room and said that the redhead was passed out on her bed. It concerned Eliot when Nate used the words _'passed out'_ instead of _'asleep'_. He decided he should go investigate for himself. When he found which room she was in, he discovered that Nate was right. She had just dropped on her bed. He carefully reached down to check for a pulse. She was alive and seemed to be breathing just fine.

How tired was she to just fall back onto her bed asleep? She hadn't changed clothes, took her shoes off or anything. The only thing that she seemed to have done was close all the curtains in the suite. With a small smile, he slid her shoes off then scooted her around so that she was laying properly in bed. Without a sound, he left her room and went to see what everyone else was up to. Sophie and Nate were sharing the master suite. Zoe had already picked a room. That just left the three remaining members and the three remaining rooms.

After Eliot dropped his bags in the room he picked, he left to go walk around the hotel and check their temporary residence out some. Parker was looking through the pictures Hardison had brought up of the buildings they potentially had to break into. Nate was sitting at the dining room table looking out the huge windows. He, too, was thinking of why Zoe was so tired. What had she been doing since she left? The flight to get her was long, sure, but she had two days since she arrived. So what _had_ she been doing? There were too many possibilities. It's not like Zoe would really tell them anyways.


End file.
